AUGUSTA — Fred Couples wondered if he was getting to the point where he was no longer welcome at the Masters. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel he could still acquit himself around Augusta National.
But he remembered there was a time years ago when Masters officials actually asked players beyond a certain age to no longer compete. While later rescinded, there’s still a feeling that a player needs to know when it’s time.
It is not yet Couples’s time.
Aided by a birdie putt from off the green at the first and a holed second shot for eagle at the 14th, Couples, 65, shot 1-under-par 71 in the opening round of his 40th Masters.
“I really shouldn't use the world clown [but] I don't want to be a clown,” said Couples, who won the Masters in 1992. “I don't want to be a guy, how is that, if we say it again, the other day I said clown and don't want to use the word clown around Augusta.
“But I can play golf. I can play around here. If the weather is like this and not hard, I can—as long as I don’t do crazy things I can shoot 73 or 4 or 5. That’s not embarrassing myself at all.”
Couples had a blast and said “today is a hell of a round. [But] I’m exhausted. I’ll tell you what.”
A 15-time PGA Tour winner who is in the World Golf Hall of Fame, Couples has for years been plagued by back problems, including last year when he said he was in considerable pain.
Two years ago, at age 63, he became the oldest player to make the cut at the Masters and he’s put himself in position to extend that record.
“Today is a hell of a round. I am exhausted. I’ll tell you what,” he said. “It’s a hard course. I just don’t hit it far enough to make it easier. I can’t knock it on a par-5 anymore [in two shots]. I used to play them 2, 3 under. Hell, now play them 1 over today and felt like I played them pretty damn well.”
The highlights were a holed putt from off the green at the first and the 6 hybrid shot from 191 yards at the par-4 14th that went in for eagle.
Into the hole from 191 yards. Fred Couples eagles No. 14! #themasters pic.twitter.com/5KD2bMUKv6
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2025
Couples joked about the fact that he has a lot of hybrid clubs in his bag—he has a driver, 3-wood, 5-wood; 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-hybrids; 7-, 8- and 9-irons, three wedges and putter. “A lot of head covers,” he quipped.
It was also the first time in 141 rounds that he holed out for eagle.
Couples said playing with Harris English and Taylor Pendrith added to the enjoyment.
“It was fun,” he said. “Pendrith and English, they’re so fun to watch. They drive it, like everyone, so far. So I just piddled around. You know, hit a lot of good woods. My rescues, really 5-irons and 6-irons. And I just—you know, I’ve been saying it for 40 years, I just love the course.”
Pendrith, who was playing the Masters for the first time, didn’t fare too well, shooting 77. But he noted how great it was to play with Couples.
“I was asking him how far he hits his 6-hybrid compared to his 6-iron. He holed one, and it was an unbelievable shot,” Pendrith said. “He was great. Just to kind of see how he plays this place. He made an unreal birdie on 1 from long left and just putted it up the hill. I mean, that’s a tough up-and-down let alone to hole it.
“Then 17, he hit it long left, which is kind of like where you’re supposed to hit it to that pin.
“So I learned a few things from him for sure just watching him play. He’s played here many, many times. He played awesome today. One under par is a fantastic round. He played really steady. Just kind of missed it in the right places and pecked away.
“So cool. He’s a legend in the game and a legend here. It’s his 40th time playing the Masters. People love him. They show great respect to him. They’re all cheering for him. It was really cool to play with him in my first and his 40th. He’s a great guy.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fred Couples Turns Back the Clock With Under-Par Start at Masters—at Age 65.
