Fred Couples hot streak of 2010 continued into the first round of the season’s first major at the Masters. Couples had missed the two previous cuts at the Masters after making a record tying 22 consecutive cuts.

This year appears to be much different.

Building his confidence in his putting by winning 3 of his first 4 starts on the Champions Tour, Fred Couples blistered the Augusta National golf course on Thursday, making 7 birdies in route to an opening round 66. The 6-under par round put him a shot clear of those chasing him.

For images from Round 1, click here.

Fred’s iron play was incredibly erratic and was unable to find a fairway all day. He only hit 6 of 14 fairways and only 8 of 18 greens. Incredibly, Fred only had 25 putts on the day and he showed real tenacity by closing with birdies on 17 and 18.

Unfortunately, this likely means this was his only major this year. Unless he attempts to qualify for the British or US Opens, he won’t play in another major. He won’t be ranked high enough to make it into the PGA, so the only way he’ll be able to play in that major is by special invitation. This likely means that Fred will only play a few more tournaments before setting his sites on the Champions Tour in October when he turns 50.

“I don’t think we’re going to get three more days like this,” 1992 champion Fred Couples said Thursday. “They set it up pretty easy. I’m sure now they’re going to put the hammer down.”

For Fred’s sake, he’s going to need to regroup and get a round in the 60s in order to be able to contend and almost certainly will need a round of par or better to make the cut. If Campbell is able to manage a 70 or better tomorrow, the cut will likely go to the top 44 and ties. (The cut rule at the Masters is top 44 and ties and those within 10 shots of the lead.) So the key tomorrow is to watch Fred relative to the field and see if he can improve on that 51st place position. Those one shot better than Couples are currently in 39th place.

Couples regressed from his improved iron and driver play that he displayed last week at the Shell Houston Open. Fred was only able to hit 11 of 18 greens and 9 of 14 fairways. He also had 31 putts on the day – far too many for 7 missed greens. (Leader Campbell, who hit 13 greens, had only 24 putts in his round.)

Friday, Fred will tee off early at 8:55 AM. He’ll need to take advantage of the early tee time as the wind is forecasted to become gusty in the afternoon, including a chance of thunderstorms.

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This year, with that talk now out of the way, the focus is simply on seeing what Fred can do at the age of 49. His mind has been wandering to the Champions Tour for a long time now. But Augusta is his favorite place – and so far this year, he’s done well at his favorite places. In contention at both Los Angeles and Houston, perhaps the third time is a charm this year.

On Wednesday, Fred Couples will compete in the par 3. The par 3 will be televised on ESPN and at masters.org. Tuesday, Fred played a practice round with fellow Presidents Cup Captain Greg Norman and Adam Scott. The temperatures have been very cold for this time of year in Augusta – although you wouldn’t now it was unusual after that previous two Masters. The good news is that the rest of the week is looking perfect, if not for a slight chance of showers on Friday. Sunny and mid-70s should rule here on out.

For a gallery of photos, including photos from Tuesday’s practice round, go here.

Fred’s tee times are:
Thu: 12:02 PM Eastern
Fri: 8:55 AM Eastern
Playing Partners: Rocco Mediate and Jack Newman (US Am Pub Links Champion)

TV:
Wed, 4/8: 3-5 PM (Par 3 Contest)
Thu, 4/9: ESPN 4-7 PM
Fri, 4/10: ESPN 4-7 PM
Sat, 4/11: CBS 3:30-7 PM
Sun, 4/12: CBS 2:30-7 PM
DirecTV customers will have access to bonus coverage on channels 701-705 Thursday thru Sunday.

Masters.org:
Wed, 4/8: Starting at 2 PM, coverage of the par 3 contest.
Thu-Sun: Live coverage of Amen Corner and holes 15 and 16 once players reach those holes.

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It’s a reality that a 48-year old golfer, with a bad back, who can’t practice much, must face. It’s a reality that his fans must face as well.

But this year seemed different. Last year making the cut was an acceptable goal – he hadn’t played but two other times during the year and wouldn’t play again until the silly season. No, this year, the goal was higher – to compete and be around the leaderboard on Sunday. It was fair optimism. Fred played an incredible 27 holes to close out the Shell Houston Open, going 13-under over them. He even played in the final group just two years ago. And he came into the Masters with a great attitude – sharing laughs with Fuzzy and Ray Floyd in the par 3 contest on Wednesday and even scoring a hole-in-one. An omen his fans thought. All was right with the golfing world again.

Yet the optimism quickly faded. A 40 on the first nine and looks of disconnect from Fred were the real omen. Still, he competed over the next 27 holes, giving it what he could to try and hang around. Finishing even par over them.

Today was a day of waiting – his fans waited and waited for that first red number to appear on the scorecard. The par 5 second came and passed without a birdie. (Fred hit his second shot into the greenside bunker and was unable to get up and down for birdie.) The treturous fifth arrived and Fred made bogey. But eternal optimism abounds by Fred fans – still three par fives to go. However, when eight came and went without a birdie, the easiest hole on the course this Friday, the dark clouds on the horizon gathered. A bogey heading into Amen Corner at 11 and now things were dire. Fred had made only one birdie on the par fives to this point – 15 in the first round.

A great tee shot on 12 to around 12 feet wouldn’t be converted. Then 13 – Fred’s 30 footer for eagle would just miss on the high side, but at least a birdie was made. On 15, Fred would capture another birdie and move back to even par for the day. A poor tee shot at 16, when Fred under clubbed, left 30 feet for birdie. At this point, it was becoming more and more clear that 3-over was going to be the cut line.

Standing on the 18th tee at 4-over, Fred hit a beautiful drive up the left side short of the bunkers. With good friend and college roommate openly rooting Fred on in the 18th tower, Fred knocked his approach to seven feet. Almost like it was meant to be – a dramatic stage was set for Fred to break Gary Player’s consecutive cut streak.

Alas, as Fred struck the putt and it brushed by the cup, it was not meant to be.

But there’s always next year. A sad lament at the moment that in time should break the crust and restore optimism. That’s the great thing about being a Masters champion. There is always next year – always. And Fred’s said he’ll keep coming back to this place. And his fans will keep rooting him on.

Below is the transcript from Fred’s second round at the Masters.

Q. The cut line and your streak in jeopardy, what do you think?

FRED COUPLES: For sure I didn’t know what it was. It looks like it’s going to be 3, so I definitely needed that putt on 18. But it’s been a long time, and it’s been fun.

Q. You had a great eagle opportunity at 13 that came up just short. Talk about that putt.

FRED COUPLES: Well, it was a 40-footer, and it looked pretty good, but it rolled down there and that was the first birdie I made for the day. I just didn’t make enough birdies. I had a few good putts but not — I never had many like I had on 18. I didn’t have many 15- or 12-footers for birdies. You’re not going to shoot good scores if you’re not making a few birdies out there because there’s a lot of hard holes and you’re going to make bogeys.

Q. You were a champion here in 1992, and the streak ties the record. That probably says as much about you as a player and your ability. What does it mean to you to have that durability and success here?

FRED COUPLES: Well, the reason I have that streak is because I won in ’92, which was the big honor, and to make the cuts, to be quite honest with you, I don’t consider that great of a deal. Playing well in this tournament I think is my goal. And even as well as I played last week, you know, I think I set my sights a little high yesterday and I went out and I struggled and I tried to hit better shots than I could, and I went from 2-over to 3-over to 4-over, and you’re kind of done.

So going out today my goal was certainly to make this cut. I don’t think I’m going to make it, but I don’t know anyone who goes to a tournament where they’re hoping to make the cut. I’m not going to make it; I’m kind of disappointed in that. But I’m really disappointed with the way I played.

Q. Can you talk about how hard you were grinding the last couple holes, knowing what you had to do?

FRED COUPLES: Well, you’ve got to grind — if you’re 10-over you want to grind because you don’t want to shoot 15-over. The whole thing is a grind. I mean, I’m sure Tiger is out there, whatever he’s shooting, even par, and grinding, and Phil at 5-under is grinding. And when you’re 4-over or 5-over, you’re just trying to hang in there and give yourself a chance.

I hit two great drives on 13 and 15, and I had 7-iron and a 5-iron, and the 5-iron I hit well over the green but made a nice birdie putt.

You’re not going to play Augusta very good if you’re just birdieing two par-5s. That’s not what you want to do.

The day started poor for Fred as he hit his approach shot on the first hole into the greenside bunker. He was unable to get up and down leading to his first bogey of the day. A chip in on the difficult fifth brought him back to 1-over, but bogeys on three of the next four took the wind out of the sails.

As the backnine started, you could tell from his body language that he was frustrated with how it was going. On the 11th, Fred hit his approach to the right collar of the green and converted for par. On the 12th, he was a bit long and converted for par. On the par five 13th, Fred elected to hit 3-wood off the tee, but landed the tee shot in the right rough and had to lay up to about 70 yards. It was his third shot that told you how the day was going when what looked like a perfect pitch that would stop within a couple of feet of hole unexpectedly released on him and went 10 feet by. He was unable to make the putt and you could really tell that the round was just not going Fred’s way.

A bogey at his nemesis hole – the 14th – was followed by a birdie at the 15th. Fred left himself about 30 feet for eagle on the hole and his putt just missed on the backside. On 16, Fred hit a beautiful tee shot that ended up about 7 feet from the hole. He was unable to convert the birdie putt and a frustrated Fred could only shake his head as he walked off the green after a tap in par.

Pars at 17 and 18 led to a backnine at even par and a round of 4-over, 76.

From Fred’s post round interview, he was obviously none too pleased about his play, but he is optimistic about tomorrow. From the photos from the first hole, it appeared that Fred had something on his mind other than golf. (Thanks to Fantastic Freddie Fan Andy for the heads up on this.)

FRED COUPLES: I misclubbed a lot of shots, and they were hard shots. I didn’t hit very good ones, and I didn’t make many putts, so when you do that, it kind of adds up to 76, which is very mediocre.

Q. You came in obviously playing well off of Houston. I’m sure you’re disappointed.

FRED COUPLES: I just was a little bit off, so tomorrow I’ll play in the afternoon, go get some rest, and I hope I’m not back on the same drag where I don’t feel good.

But I hit the ball well. It wasn’t like I embarrassed myself. You’ve got to make birdies. If I could have made a couple more birdies and hung in there, maybe I wouldn’t have tried a couple shots that I put myself in horrible places by trying to get a little greedy. If you’re even par or even 3- or 4-over, you make a couple bad swings, next thing you know you get to a spot where there’s no way you can get out of it.

Fred has shot 76 twice in the opening round of the Masters – last year and in 2000. He finished tied for 30th last year and tied for 11th in 2000. He has shot worse than 76 in the first round only one time – in 1996 when he opened with 78, but finished in a tie for 15th place. Fred has only shot worse than 73 in the second round twice since 1990. Last year he had a second round score of 76 and he shot 75 in 2003. In the last 10 years, Fred’s average second round score has been 71.8.

With few exceptions, Fred’s worst round in the Masters seems to be the first round. He has only broken 70 three times in the 23 years of the Masters. He has broken 70 eight times in the second round. He has broken 70 five times in the third round and three times in the final round.

Fred finds himself eight shots out of the lead held by two players – Justin Rose and Trevor Immelman. He’ll tee of on Friday at 12:57 PM.

Several photos from both today’s round and yesterday’s practice round have been added to the gallery. (Thanks to Fred fans Zach and White Knight for several of the photos.)

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Fred also played a practice round on Wednesday as well.

Several images from Tuesday have been added to the gallery.

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An article in the USA Today discusses Fred’s chances at the Masters. Here is an excerpt:

Twenty-three times he has teed it up at Augusta National, and 23 times he’s made the cut, a successive streak record he shares with Gary Player. Couples is the only Masters champion to have never missed a cut.

“It’s a nice thing, but I don’t know, really, how to explain it,” Couples, 48, said. “It’s not one of the great records there, and I’d rather have two green jackets than making all the cuts. I don’t think I’ve ever gone there except for last year worrying about making a cut. Now, you miss a lot of cuts because you’re not playing well. But Augusta, I think the course brings something out in me even when I’m not playing well.”

Today is the par 3 tournament. Masters.org will be airing the tournament live on the internet from 2-5 PM Eastern. ESPN will, for the first time, broadcast the tournament live on TV.

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