For those who may not know, the new PGA Tour season has already begun.
It still seems odd to me that the new season tees off in October, but it does. The opening tournament was the Safeway Open, and Kevin Tway was the winner. Congratulations to Tway for winning his first career PGA event.
The bigger story for me, however, is that Fred Couples played in what he said would be his final PGA Tour tournament. At 59 years old, he has had an amazing PGA career. He’s one of the all-time greats, right? Or is he?
Two things come to mind when I think of Couples. One is that silky swing. It truly is poetic. The other is the memory of his golf ball NOT rolling into Rae’s Creek on the 12th hole of the final round of the 1992 Master’s. It was fate, as Couples would go on to get up and down for par en route to his lone major championship.
Knowing that he has only one major victory, I can’t help but wonder if Fred Couples is overrated?
Couples has won 15 PGA Tour tournaments, and two of those were the Player’s Championship, however, for a guy whose net worth exceeds $120 million, I would expect a bit more on his resume.
Couples has done a masterful job of capitalizing on his two greatest assets. His golf swing and his personality. He admits that he’d rather sit at home watching television than stand on the range beating golf balls.
I love that about him. Of course, it’s easy to have that attitude when you have as much natural ability in your pinkie than most golfers have throughout their entire body.
Couples is a rock star on tour. He is charming, and his laid-back approach is relatable to a lot of people. That being said, I don’t believe that his record matches up with his legacy.
Think about this for a moment: Had that golf ball in 1992 rolled into Rae’s Creek the same way EVERY golf ball has, Couples would likely not have won that Master’s. We’d be sitting here today calling Couples the greatest golfer to never win a major.
What’s even crazier is that he would still be just as popular today had he not won that tournament. That is a credit to his ability to relate to the common fan, and his ability to lull you to sleep with his golf swing.
Couples will always be considered one of the all-time great players in professional golf. I just can’t help but wonder if he may be a bit overrated based on his record.
