AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Fred Couples is playing the Masters for the 41st time, and he can't remember ever hitting into the water on the par-5 15th with a wedge in his hand — twice in a row.
It wrecked the surprisingly
great round of the 1992 Masters champion — a quadruple-bogey 9 on what traditionally is the third-easiest hole at Augusta National. And this had nothing to do with the age of the 66-year-old Couples.
Robert MacIntyre also put two in the drink and made a 9. So did another former Masters champion, Danny Willett.
It was the first time since at least three scores of 9 were recorded on one hole at the Masters since 1998, when there were three quadruple bogeys on the 15th hole in the second round.
“I laid up perfect. I had 90 yards so I had to carry it 85 (yards) and 5 (yards),” Couples said. “Sometimes when you don’t try and hit a good shot you forget what the hell you’re doing. I have no excuse. I just didn’t hit them far enough.”
MacIntyre, the 29-year-old Scot, went for the green in two and came up well short, and he knew it when he hit it. His next with a wedge came up short. His sixth shot went over the green, and he chipped on and took two putts.
Willett, the 38-year-old from England who won the Masters in 2016, was way left off the tee, pitched back to the fairway and put two wedges in the water short of the green. He finally got on the green and two-putted from about 12 feet.
There also were four double bogeys. It added to a scoring average over 5.121 for the day, making it the only par 5 to play over par.
Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm are the top two players from LIV Golf, both expected to contend at the Masters. Their primary objective now is not to leave.
Rahm hit a shocker of an 8-iron that turned an easy birdie chance into a double bogey on the par-5 13th hole. The rest of his day wasn't all that great to begin with, and the two-time major champion wound up with a 78.
“It’s going to be a very much more uphill battle right now, but I’m going to have to come out (Friday) and most likely post something in the 60s to have a chance to make the cut and give myself a chance on the weekend,” Rahm said.
DeChambeau took three to get out of a bunker on the par-4 11th and took triple bogey. He shot 76.
But it wasn't just them. LIV Golf has 10 players in the field, and none broke par. Sergio Garcia was the only player at even-par 72, while Carlos Ortiz brought up the rear with an 80. The average score of the 10 players from LIV was 75.3.
Fred Couples was on the leaderboard at 2-under par, right in the mix with stars more than half his age, when the 66-year-old Masters champion started slipping toward the end.
And then his round completely unraveled.
After his 9 on the 15th, Couples' tee shot on No. 16 also rolled into the water, and he made double bogeys on that hole and the 17th.
“Just have to go do the same thing but maybe not finish 10 over par on two holes or whatever the hell I did,” he said after signing for a 78.
Couples still stopped to discuss what went wrong.
“At any age you still want to hit shots,” he said. “It happens. I’m not going to run. If I was 35 and did that I would be going bananas on everybody. You, you, you. And I would’ve ran right by and told you to get out of my life.”
Jose Maria Olazabal also was 2 under on the back nine earlier in the day when he collapsed, though it wasn't quite as drastic. He failed to get up-and-down behind the 14th green for his first bogey. He hit wedge into the water on the par-5 15th and made double bogey. And he took bogey on the 16th for a 74.
Still, the combination of his early tee time and two birdies in the first three holes meant he was atop the leaderboard for a bit.
“Everybody was in shock, yeah,” Olazabal said.
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour after four years with Saudi-funded LIV Golf.
Tom Watson thinks he should be on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Watson said Thursday the PGA Tour reneged on its promise to ban players who left for LIV. The PGA Tour brought him back under a one-time program for major champions dating to 2022 with a few stipulations, such as being ineligible for equity grants for five years, not playing $20 million signature events unless they qualify and not having access to bonus money this year.
“I thought the LIV players, when they left, they were supposed to be banned for life. If I was commissioner, that’s what I would do,” Watson said after hitting the honorary tee shot with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
“I’d say if you’re finished with your contract with LIV Golf, if you want to play the PGA Tour again, you must play the Korn Ferry Tour for a year to qualify for it,” Watson said. “They saw it differently. ... When the players left for LIV, I think it was basically over. They chose to go for the money, which is fine, but to return to the tour I thought was a nonstarter. But apparently it’s not.”
Ryan Gerard is among 22 newcomers to the Masters and he had more nerves than he imagined. He has played in three U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship. This was just another major, until it wasn't.
“Dude, I was so much more nervous than I thought I was going to be,” Gerard said after making only six pars in his even-par 72. “I was like, ‘Oh, it’s not that bad I've played in majors before. This isn't too crazy.'”
But he arrived on the first tee a little earlier, meaning he waited a little longer. And then Keegan Bradley hit his tee shot well to the right, and that got in his head.
“I just smother-hooked it in the left trees, so I'm glad I didn't take it off someone's forehead,” he said. “Yeah, it was definitely more nerve-wracking. Probably the fastest club speed I'll hit all year.”
He had five bogeys on the front nine. He also had four birdies. Gerard was asked to give his first Masters round a letter grade.
“I give the front nine an ‘F.' I would probably give the back nine an ‘A,'” he said. “Overall, a ‘C,’ which would get a degree most places. So I'll take it.”
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AP Sports Writer Noah Trister contributed to this report.
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