Couples moves up the leaderboard

An outstanding round that could have been spectacular moved Fred even further up the leaderboard on Saturday at the Wachovia Championship.

The round again featured a birdie barrage, as Fred made four birdies in five holes starting at the par five seventh. Fred would birdie 8, par 9, then make birdies at the par five 10th and another at the par four 11th.

The round that could have been began at the short par 4 14th, which was only playing 305 yards. After a tee shot that landed in a greenside bunker, Fred hit his sand shot to within four feet of the hole. He would miss the conversion there. At the easiest hole on the course – the par 5 15th, Fred would hit his third shot to within 9 feet of the hole and miss another putt. Then, at the very difficult 18th, Fred would hit a perfect drive, leaving just 160 yards to the hole. A second shot that would spin back off the green would leave about 30 feet for birdie. Fred elected to putt from the fringe and put it again to the dreaded distance of four feet. A stabbing effort would lip out and Fred would tap in for bogey.

However, the round of 69 moved Fred further up the leaderboard into the top 10. Fred finds himself seven shots behind leader Anthony Kim, but just three shots out of second place.

Tomorrow’s estimated tee time (will be updated with official pairings later tonight) is 1:10 PM Eastern with Vijay Singh. Several photos from today’s round can be found in the gallery.

Below is the post-round transcript.

Q. Freddie, almost a perfect day on the golf course today.
FRED COUPLES: Yeah, I made a few good par saves, but on the last hole I hit a perfect drive and was trying to get it pin high. I saw Nick’s ball roll a little bit back and I left it short and putted up maybe three and a half, four feet and missed it.
But I had a good round. I’ve had a couple weeks off and each day has gotten better, and today was much better than yesterday even though I shot the same score.

Q. How tough was the wind out there because it was really switching direction?
FRED COUPLES: I think for me it was a matter of not trying to hit too many great shots. I was trying to hit the ball solid, which everyone is, but I’m a little bit rusty, so if I hit a 5- or 6-iron 40 feet from the hole and it was solid, I thought that was pretty good. So I didn’t get too frustrated out there. But it was hard to judge clubs.
You know, when you made a mistake you’d kind of short-side yourself from bad judgment with the wind, and on this course with as fast as these greens are, you’re going to make bogey. So I got around except for the last hole. But the winds are swirling, and again, it’s a tricky, tough little course.

Q. Now, you made it smartly, just hitting solid shots and stuff like that, and now you find yourself almost in position to make a move tomorrow, but how ironic is it that you’ve just got to keep doing what you’re doing and sometimes the middle of the green is okay?
FRED COUPLES: Well, it is. If you’re making putts and birdies, you’re going to pick up shots. And if you make a bogey here or there, it’s not the end of the world. But now when you have one round, someone is going to go out — it’s a bunched-up leaderboard; whoever has a good round will probably be the guy who wins. But I don’t see any rounds like Perez and Adam Scott; those were phenomenal rounds. But if you can shoot 3- or 4-under and if you’re in the top five or six, you’re probably going to win the tournament.

Q. Last question. Who is going to win the Derby tonight?
FRED COUPLES: I don’t even know a horse. I can tell you that Utah beat Houston last night, and Atlanta is going to game 7 with Boston.

Q. And can Atlanta beat Boston?
FRED COUPLES: No, I don’t think so.

Q. Can the Rangers make that charge?
FRED COUPLES: No, your Flyers are good, too.

Q. Can you talk about the second shot at 7, what you saw there?
FRED COUPLES: Where the pin was, I thought I could over-hook it and get it left in the bunker, which would have been a pretty good spot. The more I looked at it, the more I thought, you know, I didn’t really need to rope-hook it. If I drew it, I might catch part of the green. I hit a beautiful shot, and you were right, it got a fairly good round going. I was even to there and hadn’t done much, but it was a great shot, and I don’t think it was a stupid shot at all. There was plenty of room to get it hooking.

Q. You were here in 2003 and I think led the very first round of the first-ever tournament, and then you haven’t played here since. Can you give us a sense of your history here and why you haven’t been back?
FRED COUPLES: Well, for a couple years — last year I didn’t play any golf, and the year before I worked pretty hard until Augusta and kind of took that defeat pretty tough, didn’t want to play golf or be around golf, so I ended up not committing to play here. And then I think the year before I just decided not to come. You can’t say enough good things about the event. I have no problems with the course.
The year I came, I actually was playing very, very well, and my back went out. I ended up hanging in there, but just couldn’t handle this kind of course with a back problem. This year I feel pretty good, and like I said, I really do like the course.
I’m 49 next year, and I’ll come back and play one more time.

Q. Is it more special to be playing a tournament this well right now, being that you haven’t been playing a lot lately, and like you said, a little bit of rust on you?
FRED COUPLES: Yeah, after Augusta I took a couple weeks off and I hit balls a couple days. I get spent from that tournament, even though I missed the cut. I’m surprised, but again, when the wind helps and the score is not being too low, which you see very rarely out here, but I like the course, it fits my eye, and the greens are extremely fast, which I feel good on fast greens, and I miss a lot of putts but I make some, too.

Q. Being as hot as you were at 7 and 8 and 10 and 11, does that give you more confidence for tomorrow?
FRED COUPLES: Well, I birdied four of my last five holes yesterday, too, to get to 3-under, and then went through there — today I birdied 7, 8, 10 and 11, so it’s kind of a rush. Tomorrow you have to make a lot of birdies. Confidence is what you make of it. I mean, I go out and play and sometimes I get on a birdie roll, and other times I make three birdies and three bogeys and a bunch of pars and end up with the same kind of score. You just go play the course and you try and do your best.

Q. You’re obviously a real popular player and have been for a long time. At this point in your career, what do you attribute so many people following you to?
FRED COUPLES: Well, I think people like to come out and watch the tournaments and they find their favorite players. I played well for a long time, and I think people rally behind certain players, and I feel like I’m one of them and it’s a nice feeling. You know, it’s a great question. I don’t know. I’m glad they do. It’s not much fun playing in front of ten people, I can tell you that. So when that happens, it won’t be much fun.
This is a great crowd. I mean, I don’t know how many people they get here every day. It looks like there’s a ton. So this tournament they’re going to follow everybody and anybody.