Couples returns for Shaw Charity Classic

CALGARY— With a sore back that has limited him to playing just five Champions Tour events this season, Fred Couples knows that defending his Shaw Charity Classic title this weekend won’t be an easy task.

Fortunately for him, he’s been known to tear it up at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club.

Couples won last year’s event at the Calgary course in thrilling fashion by chipping in for eagle on the par-5, 18th hole to shoot a course record 9-under 61 before beating Billy Andrade in a one-hole playoff.

“To be honest, when I chipped it in, I didn’t know I shot 61, I just knew I had a really good round,” said Couples, 55, who has won 11 times in six seasons on the Champions Tour. “I haven’t shot many 61s in my life and it was a good one here.”

In order to win back-to-back titles, Couples will have to fend off challenges from the likes of Charles Schwab Cup points race leader Colin Montgomerie and Jeff Maggert, who has already won a pair of majors this season — the Regions Tradition in May and the U.S. Senior Open Championship in June.

“The main thing is I like the course,” said Couples. “I feel like I should play well here and I want to play here every year and hopefully in the next few years win it again before I get too old.”

This will be Montgomerie’s first time competing in Calgary, while Maggert is looking to improve upon his performance from last year when he finished in a tie for 27th place at 6 under.

Maggert will play in a group on Friday with Mark O’Meara and Calgary’s Stephen Ames, who finished well back of the field last year at 4-over-par through three rounds of play.

The field also features four other Canadians in Rod Spittle of Niagara Falls, Ont., Calgary’s Darryl James as well as Jim Rutledge and Rick Gibson, both from Victoria.