NEWS
Couples back in Seattle for US Senior Open as favorite and hometown hero
By Associated Press
Published on
Fred Couples arrived at the U.S. Senior Open this week as a tournament favorite and a hometown hero.
The Seattle native is trying for his first USGA title at any level, playing just 20 miles from the Seattle public course where he learned the game growing up.
He hasnât lived in Seattle for decades. Yet the region still considers Couples its own.
âTo win here, it would rank right up there as any other tournaments probably besides Augusta,â Couples said Wednesday. âThis is just like a U.S. Open; no oneâs going to tell me any differently. Itâs very tough out there. So to win here would be, you know, like winning a U.S. Open. And Iâm from Seattle, so I would think it would be a great, great accomplishment. It would be very special for me.â
There was a gallery waiting and autographs to sign, a scenario that plays out during nearly every momentary break Couples gets at Sahalee Country Club.
âIâve been signing more autographs than paying any attention to the golf course,â he said.
His presence represents a perfect confluence of timing and luck. If the PGA Championship had returned to Sahalee this year as originally planned after the tournamentâs lone turn as PGA Championship host a dozen years ago, Couples would be an outsider trying to wedge his way into playing in his hometown through a special exemption.
Instead, the PGA pulled out and the USGA moved in, bringing the Senior Open, which begins Thursday. This will be Couplesâ first turn at a U.S. Senior Open. He turned 50 in October and became an active Champions Tour member this year.
And Couples is more than the hometown favorite. He just might be the tournament favorite, having won three times already this year on the 50-and-over circuit and finishing second twice.
âI think the important thing to know when youâre playing at home is that everyone is pulling for you, hoping the best for you,â Tom Lehman said. âThat energy that they have is pushing you in a really good direction. You donât have to live up to a certain expectation because they want the best for you. That helps you.â
But itâs also a challenge in balancing commitments and expectations. Couples served as the honorary chairman for the event, although his main duty was putting together a youth clinic on Tuesday. There are interview requests and old friends trying to pull Couples in many directions, not to mention the endless stream of memorabilia to autograph at seemingly every turn.
âThis honorary chairman stuff is a little mind-boggling but itâs over on Sunday,â Couples said.
The question remains whether Couples will be in contention come Sunday. The towering trees framing the holes at Sahalee are forcing many to rethink their strategies. Drivers off the tee are being replaced by fairway woods. Long irons are often the choice into greens that some say are the firmest theyâve seen.
Tom Watson said the greens were firmer than this yearâs U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Fred Funk didnât believe they were quite that hard. Couples simply noted he didnât make a ball mark on any green during his Tuesday practice round.
âItâs not a golf course where you fire at the flags,â Watson said. âItâs more of a chess match where you get in position for your next shot, and thatâs what makes Sahalee such a difficult course to play.â