Southern California's No. 1 Golf Source
 |
SITE
SEARCH
GOLF RESOURCE GUIDE:
PEOPLE
|
||||
 With his cool demeanor and a competitive fire that’s hardly ever visible to the public, Fred Couples might not seem like an obvious choice for captain of the United States Presidents Cup team. But the La Quinta resident is ideal for the job — and he knows it. “I can’t tell you enough that when [PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem] asked me to lead this team, what an honor that was,” Couples told the media. “You all know me as a golfer, but by far, I’d rather be a captain, there’s no doubt.” Such a strong assertion is a bit surprising considering Couples has been a prime-time player in the biennial team event, which pits 12 Americans against 12 international players from outside Europe. The four-time competitor won the clinching point for the U.S. in singles play on two occasions (against Vijay Singh in 1996 and 2005) and sports a 9-5-2 overall record, a winning percentage bettered only by Davis Love III among Americans who have played at least 13 matches. But like Couples, the Presidents Cup has grown older. When the matches began in 1994, Couples was just shy of his 35th birthday. When the 2009 matches begin at San Francisco’s Harding Park Golf Course on October 8, Couples will have just celebrated his 50th birthday, signaling his eligibility for the Champions Tour and casting doubt on how often he’ll resurface on the PGA Tour. But no matter how often or where he plays during the next phase of his career, the 15-time Tour winner likely will remain one of the sport’s most charismatic figures. His languid, powerful swing is envied by his peers, his nonchalant visage is admired by golf fans, and his accomplishments, including a Masters title and 16 weeks as the world’s No. 1 golfer, have earned him respect. His charisma rings especially loud in Southern California, where he’s won three PGA Tour events (twice at Riviera Country Club for the Los Angeles Open and once at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic) and five Skins Game titles in the Coachella Valley. He also helped design San Clemente’s Talega Golf Club and Simi Valley’s 36-hole Lost Canyons Golf Club. “Fred Couples being Fred Couples, I don’t have to tell anybody in California about what that means,” Finchem said. “Just his excitement on the golf course — inside and outside the ropes — we are looking forward to [his] leadership coming into the Cup.” That excitement makes the man affectionately known as “Freddie” a logical choice for an event designed to bring together the best players in the world and grow the game globally. It would have been easy for Couples to shun the spotlight upon reaching the half-century mark — for one, he’s never been the PGA Tour’s most accessible personality. (“I just like to find the easiest way to get away from the course [after a round],” he told Golf Magazine earlier this year. In fact, several attempts to reach Couples for this article were unsuccessful.) He’s won more than $21 million in his career, so further competition would be more for love of the game than financial necessity. But golf needs Couples, especially during these turbulent, uncertain times. Besides Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, there’s been no bigger figure in American golf over the past 25 years than Couples, and while a newcomer such as Los Angeles native Anthony Kim or veteran such as Kenny Perry has each shown the talent to grab the spotlight, neither possesses the Q rating of Couples. No matter how old he gets, there always will be “Freddie!” chants from the galleries when he’s in the field. Captaining the Presidents Cup is a fitting foray in what is likely to be Couples’ more prominent role as a golf ambassador. And it appears that his leadership of the U.S. team is just the start of Couples’ golf goodwill — he has been selected as the honorary chairman of the 2010 U.S. Senior Open at Sahalee Country Club near his hometown of Seattle and will conduct a junior golf clinic during tournament week in an effort to boost ticket sales. As far as trying to maintain U.S. dominance at the Presidents Cup (the Americans are 5-1-1 overall), Couples has said he wants to keep the atmosphere as light-hearted as possible, even suggesting he’d like actor/comedian Robin Williams to entertain the players after matches conclude on certain days. The American squad figures to be one of the most potent ever, with Cypress native Tiger Woods being flanked by veterans such as Perry, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson and recently crowned British Open champion Stewart Cink. Potential rookies such as Kim and Sean O’Hair also figure to do well. (Qualifying ends at this month’s PGA Championship, with 10 automatic qualifiers and two captain’s picks to be announced September 8.) “It’s just golf. I’m going to try to get [the players’] games to take over,” Couples told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I’m not going to go up to them and say, ‘Hey, you know we need this match.’ Obviously, the whole world knows we need this match. I might go up and tell a guy a little joke when he’s walking down the fairway. You do your best, and at the end, you look at the guy and say, ‘Great match.’ You’re never huffy and puffy.” Based on that formula, on-site spectators and television viewers should expect some great golf, good-natured competition and no cumbersome controversies. Sounds like a winning plan for the sport.  A closer look at Fred CouplesBorn: October 3, 1959, in Seattle, Wash. Vitals: Member of the PGA Tour since 1981; winner of 15 Tour events, including the 1992 Masters, 1990 and 1992 Los Angeles Open and 1998 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic; two-time PGA Tour Player of the Year in 1991 and 1992, and he won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average in each of those seasons; helped design Talega Golf Club in San Clemente and Lost Canyons Golf Club in Simi Valley. Nicknames: Boom Boom (for his penchant for hitting long drives); King of the Silly Season (for his outstanding record at exhibition events during the offseason, including five victories at the Skins Game). By the numbers 16: Weeks Couples held the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings in 1992, the first American to hold the top spot since the rankings began in 1986. 25: Top-10 finishes at majors, including 10 at the Masters and nine at the British Open. 23: Consecutive cuts made at the Masters, tied for the most ever with Gary Player. 5: Consecutive appearances on the U.S. Ryder Cup team beginning in 1989. 9-5-2: Overall record in four appearances on the U.S. Presidents Cup team. 3-0-1: Overall singles record in the Presidents Cup, including a victory against Nick Price in 1994 and a 2-0-1 record against Vijay Singh. 50 percent: Rate at which Couples has finished inside the top 25 at PGA Tour events (290 top-25 finishes in 581 starts). 2009 Presidents Cup What: A biennial team competition featuring 12 Americans pitted against 12 players from outside Europe. Couples is the U.S. team captain and Australian Greg Norman is the International team captain. History: Matches began in 1994. The American team has won five matches, the International team has won once and there has been one tie. When: October 6-11 (Matches are four days and begin October 8). Where: Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco. Television: Golf Channel (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) and NBC (Saturday and Sunday). Tickets: A variety of tickets and accommodation packages are available, including an opportunity to stay where the players stay. Tickets start at $35 and packages start at $655 per person for three nights. More information: presidentscup.com |
||||
RSS SubscribeReaders Feedback:
My son-in-law John Rassatt was a close friend of Fred Couples while they were going up in Seattlle. I am in charge of a Silent Auction/Live Auction for a golf classic to be held on Octoer 26 at Alta Vista Country Club in Placentia, CA. This golf classic is to raise funds to help Project Impact an organization to help at risk teens and also All People Chrisitan Center to help intercity low income families.
I was hoping that Fred could donate an autographed picture for our auction
Thanks for your assistance
| Comment at 8/27/2009 |
