AUGUSTA, Ga. — Well, well. Look who’s in contention at the Masters again.
Fred Couples, who seems to play like a player 20 years younger than his 54 years every time he plays Augusta National, is on the first page of the leaderboard entering the weekend.
Couples, who won the Masters in 1992 and owns the tournament record for most consecutive cuts made with 23, shot his second consecutive 71 on Friday and stands at 2-under par, five shots from Bubba Watson’s lead entering the weekend.
“Can I win it? Yeah,’’ Couple said. “That’s why I’m here. Come over here [Saturday] night and if I play well, which I haven’t the last couple of years, then I’ll answer that question again. But [I] have to play well [Saturday].’’
That has actually been a road block for Couples in recent years — the third round. After playing his way into contention through two rounds the last two years, he shot 75 on Saturday in 2012 after leading through two rounds and 77 last year after being in second place through two rounds.
Couples said jokingly he has been “a pretty good club player on Saturdays’’ the last couple of years.
Asked what his “approach’’ will be, Couples sad: “Well, I’m averaging 76 the last two Saturdays, which is not very good. So my approach will be to average anything lower than that to bring my average down. I felt the pressure last year, but I really didn’t play poorly. I made triple on 17, which really looked bad. And then didn’t play too bad on Sunday to have a good finish. But I want to play better [Saturday].’’
He said his “goal’’ for Saturday is “not to lose ground,’’ adding, “Maybe it’s to pick up some.
“I didn’t pinpoint really anything the last two years on Saturday except just some bad play which led to maybe a little panic and you’ll do that at Augusta,’’ he said. “It’s not like I walk around and hit every shot where I’m looking. The greens are like concrete, and I don’t think they’re going to water them.’’
Couples had a flashback moment at No. 12 on Friday when his tee shot stayed on the bank at Rae’s Creek similarly to the way it did when he won his green jacket in 1992.
“I will say I got very, very lucky,’’ Couples said. “Luckily, I was aiming far enough left that it didn’t catch the big bank and the slope. Very lucky. Then I had a perfect lie. I was so excited it didn’t go in the water, I kind of nonchalanted and kind of flubbed the chip and made a bogey there.’’
Couples sounded as if he believes Watson will be tough to catch.
“Bubba is playing very, very well,’’ Couples said. “But none of us can stop Bubba. If he goes out and does what he did [the last two days] he’s the guy to beat. But I’m not here just to play golf and think that I can’t compete on this course. I can’t compete with these guys over a year, but on one week I can compete.’’
Asked what a second Masters win would do for his career, Couples had trouble finding the words.
“A second win here would be … I have no idea,’’ he said. “I’ve never … I don’t think about it. When you start thinking about that you kind of go crazy. But would I want to put on another jacket here? Yeah. But I’ve got 36 holes. I need to play better than I did the last two days, and I felt like I played really well. I’ve got my work cut out for me.’’