So what if there's no Tiger, this is Couples' gig, anyway

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Feb 19, 2006

PACIFIC PALISADES -- Tiger couldn't make it, but Fred Couples could. Fred Couples always makes it to the Nissan Open. In some ways, Fred Couples makes the Nissan Open.

Freddie, the man with the quotes that sometimes are nonsensical, the man with the swing that always is rhythmical.

He loves Riviera and the Nissan. "It's probably my favorite course on Tour, besides Augusta," Couples said. "I don't think I've ever missed it, well, maybe one year."

Riviera loves Couples. "The crowds here have always been phenomenal," he said. "They root hard. I do well here, so they back me. They were out there yelling and screaming."

The way they usually are for Tiger Woods. But Saturday, Woods couldn't make it.

After qualifying on the cut line Friday, in that chilling rain, Woods made the decision Saturday to withdraw because of the flu.

"Everyone saw how Tiger felt this week," his agent, Mark Steinberg, said in a release. "And he just can't shake it. He feels awful. This is an event he loves to play in and strives to win, his hometown tournament. Tiger doesn't want to pull out of any event, ever."

No Tiger. A lot of Couples. He's been on Tour longer than some of his competing pros, Sean O'Hair and J.B. Holmes, have been alive. He's 46. He won the Nissan in 1990, when, for comparison, Woods was 14, and again in 1992.

And going into today's final round of the'06 Nissan, Couples has a chance to win it again.

He's tied for second place with Craig Barlow after 54 holes, albeit a distant second, four shots behind Rory Sabbatini, who after a 4-under par 67 Saturday is at 14-under par 199. Couples, with a 65, and Barlow, 67, are at 203, 10-under.

No Tiger, and that means even more support for Couples.

"The poor guy is sick," said Fred about Woods. "They couldn't root for him today. But I got some of his strays to follow me. I have no problem with his choice to withdraw, because if I was a top player, and I was where he was, you don't want to come out and kill yourself.

"But for me, I've got a great gallery most of the time I play. Although, the way I play sometimes, I probably don't deserve two or three people out there."

Lovable Freddie. Reliable Freddie. Determined Freddie. Bewildering Freddie.

"It's kind of hard to change what (putting) stroke I have," Couples said. "It would nice to have a longer, smoother putting stroke, but the clean and jerk is what I've got. If it was the Summer Olympics I would feel pretty good right now."

How can he feel bad? Fred Couples, 23 years after he won the Kemper Open, in contention for the Nissan? Fred Couples, after all the years of back problems, still driving the ball out there with Phil Mickelson and Davis Love III?

"It would be nice to do this 12 times a year," said Couples.

Around here, in the old, Spanish-style stucco clubhouse on the hill, on the wonderfully designed classic course down below, they would accept it once a year, when Couples plays the Nissan.

"When I first started coming here, you know, I'm from Seattle, and we have small courses with tiny greens," Couples said. "This course has probably the smallest greens on Tour, maybe Harbour Town. I liked it from the get-go. So I just like the place."

Arriving at the beginning of the week from Australia, where he played in the Johnnie Walker Classic, Couples had a severe head cold made worse by the flight. He pulled out of the Wednesday pro-am and stayed in bed.

"If you would have seen the tee shot my first hole, the 10th, Thursday, I made five and should have just walked in. There is no way I felt I was going to be able ... but I got it around, 5-under, 4-under (he finished 5-under 66).

"What did I shoot? It was the biggest fluke of the year. If I had been playing a course I wasn't accustomed to, I would have shot 75 the same way I played. Thank you."

You're welcome, Freddie. Anyone who for 25 years keeps showing up and keeps the gallery enthralled is the one who deserves the thanks.

Tiger couldn't make it, but Fred Couples never misses it.

Art Spander won top columnist honors in the Golf Writers Association of America's 2004 contest. He can be reached at typoes@aol.com.