FRED COUPLES says Scotland may have seen the last of him as a dodgy back has forced him to retire from competing outside the United States.

The former Masters champion, 48, has been a popular figure at the Barclays Scottish Open.

On his last trip two years ago he even stayed around all week to soak up the atmosphere – despite having pulled out before the tournament when his back flared up.

But Couples now won’t travel across the Atlantic for any more tournaments with the only possible exception being The Open.

He said: “My travelling days are pretty much done. I would love to come back to places like Loch Lomond but it’s just too much now.

“If I qualify for The Open I might go across but that would be the limit.

“It’s a shame because the last time I was at Loch Lomond I had a ball. I never played because of my back but itwas the best weather ever. I loved it.

“I haven’t been on a transatlantic flight since then. In the past I enjoyed going to events in Germany and Asia.

But it’s just too much strain on my back now.”

The important caveat there is the qualifying for the Open, which is good news.

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Fans were waiting to see how Fred’s back would react to the long inactivity period, and it unfortunately looks like it is still an issue. In fact, as Mark Soltau from Golf Digest reports, the man is still bothered by his back.

” Fred Couples shot a 2-under-par 70 despite a sore back that limited him to only nine holes last week at Loch Lomond in the Scottish Open.

“That’s as good as I can do,” Couples said. “I haven’t played much golf and I hit it pretty well and made a couple of key putts.” [Click here for his hole-by-hole scorecard.]
Asked if thought he would have to withdraw this week, Couples responded as he often does in a humorous but rambling fashion: “Well, on Wednesday at Loch Lomond, I thought I was done. But to be honest with you, I don’t get too disappointed when my back goes out. At Augusta one year, I did and at St. Andrews when John Daly won I thought the same thing was happening so I was pretty frustrated. But you get used to it. I just laid in bed last week, put my feet up and played nine holes, watched another guy play nine holes just for me to get some exercise and I didn’t do anything.

Then on Sunday I went to hit a bucket of balls and didn’t hurt myself and I thought that was good news. Like I’m standing here and I’m not a tough guy, but it’s really hurting. When I’m moving, it’s OK. Tomorrow, it’ll be fine, so if I go out and play poorly, it won’t be because of my back, it’ll be because I’m rusty. I spent a week at Wimbledon without playing any golf and at Loch Lomond, I played nine holes in two weeks. I need to play and I need to play better than I’m playing, too.” [...] “

As for the course conditions, it looks like the rain that fell over the region on wednesday saved the tournament if we refer to Fred’s opinion. Indeed, in this article by Tony Jimenez, Couples talks about the setup at Hoylake.

” The 135th British Open has been rescued by the rain which fell on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, according to former U.S. Masters champion Fred Couples. “If it had not rained it would have been unbelievable for four days,” the 46-year-old American told reporters after starting his campaign with a creditable two-under-par 70. “It would have been way too hard. When you are flying balls on the front of the greens and they are going all the way through and down the embankments over the back, that to me is not true links golf.” The recent hot spell had left the course fast-running and bone-hard through the days of build-up before the rain took the edge off for Thursday’s first round.

The winner of the 1992 Masters is surprised Hoylake has been left off the championship rota since 1967. “It is a great golf course and I cannot imagine why it was not in the rotation for the last 40 years,” he said. But the amount of money Couples is paying for his accommodation here gives a clue as to the infrastructure problems that have delayed the return to the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. “I am paying 14,000 pounds ($25,800) for my house this week so they must have known we were coming!”, said Couples. “They had a few years to prepare for this week.” Couples, who finished tied for third at St Andrews last year, is glad to be playing after pulling out of last week’s Scottish Open when his old back problems flared up again. “Last Wednesday I thought I was done for,” he said. “I am standing here, and I am not a tough guy, but it is really hurting. “When I am moving, it is okay.”� “

Tomorrow, the man will have to shoot anything in the 60′s to remain in some kind of contention. Assuming the conditions will be harder, Fred must card at least a 68 (-4) to reach a cumulative of -6 for the tourament. While it might look very difficult, it couls be achievable if Couples gets a little lucky on the par-5′s, very reachable on this course.

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On to Fred now; after pulling out of the Scottish Open due to back spasms, the man will have a go at the British Open, where he finished third in 2005. Fred will play with Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey at 7:36 AM local time on thursday.

Fred to play the Reno-Tahoe Open?

According to the Nevada Appeal, Fred is scheduled to play the Renoe-Tahoe Open. This would mean that Couples would skip the WGC tournament at Firestone, which is a course that he likes. While this story is pretty wierd, it could be possible. Stay tuned.

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20060719/SPORTS/107190054

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Contrary to the first three rounds, Couples got off to a good start, making birdies on 1st and 3rd holes. Out with 34 (-2), the man then played a bogey free back nine, carding two birdies at 10th and 18th. (Fred birdied 18th all four days.)

In an interview following his round, Couples seemed very pleased with his performance, at the moment good for seventh place. He talked about how his putting was better today then saturday, where he shot his worst round of the tournament: a 73 (+1). Then, as the leaders were making the turn, the weather changed and the field came back to Fred’s score, at the moment the leading cumulative in the clubhouse.

With the President’s Cup coming and eventually the Ryder Cup, Couples’ performances in majors this season could earn him a spot on the USA Team, directed by Jack Niclaus. Fred did well in all three majors this year, and almost won the Memorial, a tournament organised by Niclaus himself.

Starting early this morning, Couples made ten pars in a row. Then on 11, he tried to hit a hard 6-iron into the green, and felt pain in his back as he was swinging the club. Escaping that hole with a bogey (with two putts from 100 feet), Fred bounced back on the next hole where he drove the green. Even through 17 holes, Couples then birdied 18th for the second straight day, to finish at -1 for the day and -5 for the tournament.

In the afternoon, a rumor stating that Fred Couples would withdraw from the Open due to a bad back started to propagate. However, later in the afternoon, Couples told BBC that he was indeed in pain during his second round, but that he would play the weekend for sure. He even mentionned that he had very high hopes.

Tomorrow, Fred will play with Bo Van Pelt in the third round. Six shots off the lead, Couples will need at least a 69 (-3) and some help from leader Tiger Woods to have a realistic chance on sunday.

• Interview from opengolf.com
• From the BBC, on Fred’s back

Couples got off to a very ordinary start when he bogeyed the par-4 3rd hole, but managed to card 5 birdies on the remaining 15 holes to end up at -4 for the day and a share of third place. Given the conditions that Couples had to play in, which were much more difficult than during the morning session, it is reasonnable to say that Couples’ probably shot one of the best rounds of the day, even if he’s not leading the tournament.

With Tiger Woods in command of the tournament after one round, Fred will have to go low again tomorrow if he wants to stay atop of the leaderboard. As always, putting will be essential to Fred’s success; on thursday, the man did not 3-putt once, which is quite an achievement on such large greens.

When the British was last held at St-Andrews in 2000, Couples finished sixth with a cumulative of -9.

Stay tuned for more coverage of the 2005 British Open Championship!

Fred Couples has withdrawn from the British Open due to a bad back, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews announced Friday.

Couples faxed David Pepper, chairman of the Championship Committee and Peter Dawson, chief executive of The R&A, on Friday with news that he was withdrawing from the Open and gave his regrets for being unable to be at Troon.

Couples is the third player to formally withdraw from the Open, which starts Thursday at Royal Troon.

Tom Watson withdrew Thursday from the Ford Senior Players Championship due to a triceps injury, which will also keep him out of next week’s Open. Fred Funk also withdrew Thursday.