Fred Couples’ cut hopes sink away as Masters’ back 9 bites again

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Fred Couples was making a spirited run at the Masters cut line on Friday when the back nine at Augusta National bit again, sending the 66-year-old packing for the weekend.

Teeing off in ideal conditions at ​8:50 a.m. ET, Couples made his turn in 1-under-par for the day and ‌5 over for the tournament. That was hovering around the projected cut line, and Couples made it through the first leg of “Amen Corner” with a par on the difficult 11th hole.

That’s when he sent his tee shot on the par-3 12th toward the right side of the green, where it hit ‌and ​spun off into the water. That led to a double-bogey ⁠that dropped Couples to 7 ⁠over for the tournament. Two more bogeys on his way in added up to a 75 and 9 over for the tournament, well outside of the cut line.

It was eerily similar to Couples’ first round, when he was just inside the top-10 ​at 2 under through 12 holes. His approach on the par-5 15th spun back into the water. So did his next attempt, leading to a quadruple bogey 9 ⁠that he followed with another ball in the water ⁠and a double bogey on the 16th.

“Quad double-double, wow. That’s 8-over. ​I think that’s almost impossible to do, but I did it,” Couples said. “I’ve never wedged ​it into the water or really wedged it 15 yards over the ‌green (on 15). In the old days I went for it every time, but not for 10 or 12 years, and then now it’s water, water, water every time I look at the God damn thing, and I don’t know why.”

The 1992 Masters champion completed his ⁠41st Masters on Friday. He acknowledged that if not for the quadruple on Thursday, he would have had a real shot at making a run at the cut.

Instead he missed the ⁠cut for the seventh time ‌in eight years.

“If I would have parred there, I promise you ⁠I wouldn’t have double-doubled, but maybe a couple of bogeys. ​Then today ‌would have been a really a fun, entertaining day to ​see if I ⁠could shoot whatever,” he said.

Couples used the word “fun” five times during his brief post-round interview, adding that one would have to be “an idiot” not to love Augusta National.

“People love it, but I consider it to be just the greatest walk you could ever have,” Couples said. “There are great courses all over the world, but there are none of them like this.”

–Derek ​Harper, Field Level Media