Golfer Fred Couples coming home this summer | Northwest Golf Preview

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Fred Couples is in a hurry. The man who never looks anything but relaxed while playing golf is rushing to leave the course after finishing in a pro-am. But then came a question he couldn't ignore.

One about Seattle, a place he is proud to be from, about Jefferson Park golf course on Beacon Hill, where he learned the game that has given him fame and riches.

"You know, I haven't played at Jefferson since 1990," Couples said before playing in the Toshiba Classic in March, a tournament he won by four strokes.

If he went back to Jefferson Park, Couples would now see the prominent plaque signifying that this had once been his home course. Like his old course, it seems the entire city still embraces Couples, even though he hasn't lived in Seattle since going away to college at the University of Houston in 1977.

"It's flattering, but it's also kind of embarrassing," said Couples, who went to O'Dea High School. "I haven't spent more than 10 to 15 days a year in Seattle since I left. I don't even bring my golf clubs when I come home."

He'll definitely be bringing his clubs back this summer. Couples, 50, who was sixth in the Masters earlier this month, has taken the Champions Tour by storm, with three victories and a second in six starts.

He hopes to add to that total in what will be a summer feast for local golf fans. Couples will headline the U.S. Senior Open at Sahalee in Sammamish in the last week of July, and a month later will play in the Boeing Classic at the TPC at Snoqualmie Ridge, the same week the U.S. Amateur will be played in the Tacoma area.

Couples has been waiting for this U.S. Senior Open for several years, from the moment he saw that the first one he would be eligible for was scheduled just a short drive from where he grew up. Couples is serving as honorary chairman for the event.

"I take pride in being from Seattle," said Couples, who won the Class 3A high-school state championship in 1977, and the Washington Open and Washington Amateur in 1978. "I pay attention to the Huskies. I pay attention to the Seahawks. I love to see what's going on up there. To have my first Senior Open at Sahalee will be a great, great week. It's kind of funny to me (being asked to be the honorary chairman), but I'm loving doing it. I hope to help the tournament and make sure that it goes well and we can come back sooner (rather) than later."

Couples even keeps track of his alma mater. When told that a high school golfer, Cory Mehl, shot a 60 in 2005 at Jefferson, Couples said, "I know that, he was a kid from O'Dea (Cory Mehl in 2005). I keep up on what O'Dea is doing."

Everyone's favorite

Fred Couples' last PGA Tour victory was at the Shell Houston Open in 2003, giving him 15 for his career. While a nagging back has bothered him for years, Couples is still one of the game's long hitters and he contended often enough in his late 40s that most predicted he would be a force on the Champions Tour.

But who could have predicted this kind of success?

Of his first 12 rounds on the Champions Tour, his worst score was a 4-under 68. His average score has been 65.9. It's no wonder that Couples said if he were to play Jefferson Park today, "I would like to think I could shoot 64 or 65 pretty easily."

"I knew Freddie would come out here and do very, very well," said Tom Watson, who outdueled Couples in a 1-2 finish to start the Champions Tour season. "He controls his game very well, and he is so long, and he doesn't have to compete against those long kids out here. He can compete against us short popcorners on this Tour. Playing with him in the Skins Game in Hawaii (in January), he was out-driving me by 40 or 50 yards."

Back in November, Couples could not have imagined this. His back was so bad, he wasn't even playing golf. But the back got better and his game came back.

"I played for about eight straight days at home in the desert, and I started playing really well. ... And it's gone pretty well since."

An understatement, of course. And while Couples still believes he can win on the regular Tour, he said most of his time will now be on the Champions Tour. He hopes to play in about 20 events this year, with up to 14 of them on the Champions Tour.

It has been a seamless transition for someone who once had little interest in the senior circuit.

"Ten years ago, I didn't think I wanted play on the Champions Tour," he said. "And then when I got to 46, I started thinking, 'They should lower the age to play on it.' I'm a Champions Tour player now. It's part of the deal, and I don't have a problem with that."

Couples has never been one for setting specific goals. He just wants to play well ("If I do that and finish fifth, that's still a good week.") and he figures by doing that he will have more chances to add to his victory total.

And what about the pressure of being the favorite each week he plays on the Champions Tour? No problem for the seemingly unflappable Couples.

"That's actually a great thing," he said. "And if I don't like that, I should be in Palm Springs playing with the 8-handicaps that I play with. I'm not being funny. I went through eight, 10, 12 years (on the PGA Tour) where I thought I was someone who could win the tournament. That's how I feel out here."

Summer in Seattle

Before the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee, Couples told a reporter, "I could quit and go to heaven if I won the PGA in Seattle."

He finished 46th, and he puts similar importance on this year's U.S. Senior Open, where he will face a field that will include Greg Norman, Tom Lehman, Corey Pavin and Watson, who just missed winning the British Open last year at age 59.

Couples also played in three Northwest tournaments at Sahalee without winning. The tight tree-line fairways aren't a great fit for his powerful game.

"Sahalee is not a bomber's paradise," said Loren Roberts, the defending Boeing Classic champion who also won the Champions Tour's seasonlong Schwab Cup. "You've got to fit the ball through the trees, you've got to keep the ball below the hole. And you've got some movement on the greens, so you've got to have some imagination with the putter."

Couples will do what he can to make sure he is in top form. He will likely skip the Senior British Open the week before, but expects to play in the Canadian Open on the PGA Tour to stay sharp.

"I am going to do everything that I can to be ready to play," he said. "I could go to Seattle and play with friends but it's still not the same."

The Boeing Classic is an event that Couples has said will be on his agenda as long as he continues to play. It's all about the Seattle-area location, even if he's not precisely sure where the course is located.

"My friends tell me it's really beautiful," he said.

And it's home, where his sister and several friends still live. Couples said before the PGA Championship in 1998 that he had plans to buy a residence in the area. That almost happened, as he looked into a place on Puget Sound north of Everett.

"I think it's too hard to travel and play, and live there," said Couples, who lives in Palm Springs, Calif. "I could never have lived there while I was playing, it's just too far to go. And I ended up being in California. Why? I don't know."

Couples also doesn't have an answer as to how long he will continue playing professional golf. That will depend on how long he feels he can still win.

"To go play in tournaments and really not play well is no fun to me," he said. "I think I can compete out here. Now I've got to figure out for how long. And if that's three or four years, I think that's great, if I can last that long."

Information in this article, originally published Apr. 27, 2010, was corrected May 1, 2010. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated a person's name. The correct name is Cory Mehl.