Standing on the 70th hole, Fred Couples was clinging to a one shot lead over Paul Casey, who was two holes behind him, and JB Holmes, who had finished earlier in the day. To say the course conditions were difficult would be a huge understatement. Unfortunately for Fred, the last three holes would be the difference maker. He bogeyed all three.

Much like the Northern Trust Open earlier in the year, Fred still had a chance on the 18th to get himself into what would eventually be a playoff at -11. Although, it would have taken birdie at a hole that was playing more than a stroke over par because it was playing dead into a stiff breeze. Unfortunately, a wayward drive into a bunker left Fred no choice by to simply try and advance the ball as far as he could.

The round really went south, though, on the par 5 13th hole. Fred sat at -12 and really had an opportunity to get a couple of shots on the field with the par 5 13th and 15th in preparation for the difficult finishing holes. Couples hit two very good shots on the 13th, leaving him just over 50 feet for eagle. Unfortunately, a stubbed chip led to a par. It was quite obvious that hole really hurt Fred’s confidence. Johnny Miller, commenting on Fred just prior to the stubbed chip, said that Fred would need a two or three stroke cushion going into 16 to win. How right Miller was.

Fred finished in third place, two shots behind Paul Casey and J.B. Holmes, who tied at -11. Paul Casey went on to win in a playoff.

While it’s certainly disappointing – it would help if Fred would stop thinking that he can’t win on tour anymore – it certainly was a huge improvement over the week prior. That’s got to be a big boost to his confidence going into the Masters.

Fred’s final round interview:

Q. Fred Couples, the you beat the field scoring average. I know you’re disappointed. How do you look at it?

FRED COUPLES: I am disappointed. I felt like I needed a couple birdies, I made bogey the last three holes. I’m happy with the way I played. Obviously, a lot of people out there supporting me, but I just couldn’t make any — too tough.

Q. It came down to the numbers because the way I looked at it, you played 28 holes yesterday, 26 today. A lot of golf for two days. Are you tired?

FRED COUPLES: I wasn’t tired on 16 waiting to putt. Then after I 3-putted I got a little more tired. Bogeyed 17 I was exhausted, now I’m finished. You know, they’re hard holes. But I haven’t played 54 holes in that short of span in a long time. I’m pretty tired. My back is holding up, so I think it’s nice.

Q. What about the emotions? You mentioned it before we talked about this yesterday. Coming out here, you told me that no matter what you do, they’re going to cheer for you out here.

At any point does the emotion get in the way when you come to a place like Houston where you have so many connections?

FRED COUPLES: No, not really. It did when I won. If I would have won again today, it would have been good. Main thing for me, even I come here, I have, thank God, lots of people follow me around — not as many as I used to — pretty loud. “Go Cougars, Cougars, Cougars, Cougars.” It was pretty fun for about 70 holes. There’s no way I could have birdied 17 and 18.

Q. Another place you play well Augusta. Give us some kind sense what you expect for yourself next week.

FRED COUPLES: Well, you know, I felt pretty good about my swing. I worked on it pretty hard for the last seven days since I got into town with Paul, and I think if I get a few practice rounds, I know it’s going to be cold, so I’m going to kind of hopefully get ready.

It was good today. I wish it wasn’t quite that hard because I think I could have maybe done a little better without the wind, but I got it around and I look forward to next week. It’s my all-time favorite place.

Q. You and everybody else. Fred, that was a very, very difficult golf course today.

FRED COUPLES: Yeah, it was awfully hard. Lot of left to right winds for me. I got the ball around very, very well today. I made a bad bogey on the 8th hole, the par 5, and, you know, that took a little wind out of me, but I birdied 10 and got it going.

I knew J.B. was in the clubhouse, and I had a lot of holes left. I made a blunder on the other par 5, 13th, 14th hole, whatever it is, and I had a very easy chip for eagle or birdie and I made par. You know, the last holes are hard. Didn’t play them very well.

Q. 13th hole is a par 5. You played an awful lot of golf this week. Because of the wind situation on Thursday, you essentially played 54 holes on Saturday and Sunday. Was fatigue a factor at all?

FRED COUPLES: Actually, I’m tired now. It worked out in a good way because I played a lot of golf and I played pretty well. I didn’t make any bogies yesterday and this wind today.

You know, like I said, I hit a horrible drive on 8. Let the wind get it. When you’ve got 5, 6-footers for par, you’re not going to make them all.

Q. Good luck.

FRED COUPLES: Thank you.

Q. You mentioned after The Masters you may not play again until the Champions Tours. Does it make it more likely or less likely on days like this?

FRED COUPLES: There’s a lot of tournaments I’m not going to play. I’m going to play in TPC, and you know, two other ones, but I’m going to take a lot of time off.

You know, it was fun. I played horrible last week. I came down here and worked on my game, and Paul gave me a lot of help, and I hit the ball well for four days. Even today it was — it’s disappointing to not hit a few shots when you have to, but other than that, I got it around nicely, and it kind of makes me want to play. I’m playing next week, so I’ll be excited by Augusta.

Q. Fred, how much does it help when everyone is cheering for you after every hole?

FRED COUPLES: Yeah. It doesn’t help me when you’re 240 into a left-to-right wind, you can’t reach the green on the par 4. But it’s always fun. Going to school here was a blessing. It’s where I really learned how to play and become a good player.

Coming back, I think I missed it a couple years, but now I have Champions Tour event to come back and play in The Woodlands. I’m sure I’ll have more people again.

Q. You talked yesterday about how this wind just takes such a mental and physical toll. Did it finally catch up with you?

FRED COUPLES: I think, you know, I knew J.B. Holmes was in the clubhouse, and I knew I had — not birdieing the 13th hole was a huge, huge mistake. Couple other good shots I hit in there. I bogeyed the last three holes. They were hard, and it’s a tough course out there.

But for 69 holes I think I lead the tournament for a little bit of it, and it’s a good feeling. I’m really tired. 54 holes in the last couple days really killed me, but at the same time, I played a lot of golf and I played well.

So I kept it going. But the finish is very sour but, you know, from where I’ve been playing, it’s pretty good.

Q. You realize two Top-5 finishes on the PGA Tour for a guy who says he’s ready for the Champions Tour.

FRED COUPLES: Yeah. I know. I get a little down on the way I’m playing. Actually, I think maybe I think I’m better than I really am. I know I can play golf like anybody else, but I think I should do it more often. If I could play like this, it’s certainly more entertaining, that’s for sure, but I’m ready for the Champions Tour. There’s no doubt. I will have much more fun trying to go through that.

Q. You have a date next week?

FRED COUPLES: I’ll go to Augusta with bells on. My favorite spot.

Q. Freddie, you weren’t sure if you’d get through today. You got through pretty good?

FRED COUPLES: I did alright. We only went nine more. For some reason I thought we’d tee off earlier and get 15, 16 holes. But I’m dead, and the last couple holes actually hit great shots on 9 and 10. And I’m glad we stopped right there and come out tomorrow. And it’s a good thing because we’re going to play a lot of holes. If I play well, that will be a good thing.

Q. You’re just one off the lead and gave yourself a lot of birdie opportunities today.

FRED COUPLES: I did. You know, I can’t complain. I’m at least putting better, but this morning, you know, I left a few 4- and 5-footers out there, which is normal, and this afternoon in nine holes I played very solid and birdied both par-5s and ended up birdieing the 10th hole.

Q. Final thing, talk about going into tomorrow with a chance here.

FRED COUPLES: Well, you know, when I won in 2003 I hadn’t won in a while, but just with the people yelling, Houston Cougar this and Cougar that, and today even 7:30 at night there’s still a lot of people. Tomorrow will be lot of fun. I seem to be playing better. It’s not an easy course, so I’ve got to go out and be sharp.

Q. Thank you.

FRED COUPLES: Alright.

Fred also brought back the visor, which has been missing for nearly two years. Once a staple of the Fred Couples persona, the visor disappeared after the 2007 Masters.

Fred post round interview is below.

Q. You’re playing well.

FRED COUPLES: I had a good day. You know, a good course. I played well last year. I like the shape of the course and my key today was a couple very good driving holes. I hit two great drives and played a few of the hard holes one, 2-under. That’s the key to this golf course. I didn’t — I didn’t birdie any par-5s but the other ones, I did well and 4-under is a good score.

Q. You got an all star cast out here this week, biggest galleries following Fred Couples.

FRED COUPLES: I don’t know about that. I went to school here, saw a few Cougars that come out and watched and it’s a good feeling and we had a great tee time. Yesterday we were out with a big gallery, too. They went home disappointed. 80 degrees and sunny, lot of wind and we walked off the course because we couldn’t keep the ball from rolling on the green. That was probably a blessing although I was 1-under but I didn’t want to play too many more holes yesterday. It was too tough.

Q. You said this is one place and The Masters where you think you can still come putt and obviously you’re showing it.
FRED COUPLES: Well, there are a few places. I mean Riviera is another one and I did well. If I said that to myself every week I’d probably do better but, you know, there are some courses out here that are awfully hard and I still play them but this is the kind of course, it’s not high rough, I putt pretty well on really fast greens and, you know, I have some confidence around here. It’s a good feeling to play and plus going to school here, how can you beat that? You come back and play. If you’re shooting 80, they’re rooting for you. If you shoot 68, they’re rooting for you.

It was cool and a little breezy today. Maybe four holes into it it really turned out to be beautiful out there today. One of the good things is the greens were pretty soft and, you know they were perfect. The golf course is great. Yesterday was pretty brutal and to be 1-under when we stopped was truly a good feeling and today to go out and make some birdies out there, it was good. I hit the ball pretty solid and I would say got it around nicely.

Q. Are the greens still running fairly fast?

FRED COUPLES: They’re fast, yeah.

Q. Just a little bit softer?

FRED COUPLES: Yeah.

Q. Where did you finish yesterday?

FRED COUPLES: Finished on the — was on the 17th tee.

Q. So you didn’t have to play?

FRED COUPLES: No, I was on the tee.

Q. Talk a little bit in the contrast of the playing conditions. Today seems like a very perfect today.

FRED COUPLES: Yes. Well, obviously. Yesterday was sunny and windy and they pulled us off the course. So, you know, it just got too gusty and the greens were too fast and balls were rolling and there was no wind yesterday, it would be the same as today, perfect weather. Just unfortunate that many people came out to watch yesterday and we had to go off the course. Where as today, the huge galleries and it will be spectacular.

Q. You think guys playing in the afternoon who didn’t play at all do they have a slight advantage?

FRED COUPLES: What would you think?

Q. I would think.

FRED COUPLES: Very good. Very good. I don’t think you need to ask that question. I would say 1-under par on my pairing is in about fifth place. That will be in 30th place by the end of the day. It happens.
So, tomorrow, you know we’ll get another early tee time and instead of playing at 1:00 I’ll play at 8:30. That’s a boon, too. The scoring is going to be way better in the afternoon, morning or they’re going to play all day today.

Q. This is the course — you obviously won on the other one. You’ve got to feel comfortable here. You’ve had a good tournament. Is it kind of carrying over? Do you feel comfortable here?

FRED COUPLES: I like the course. As they say, they have it set-up like Augusta. That would be not much rough and really fast greens and there’s a lot of key driving holes. I felt like last year I didn’t make too many blunders. I made some bogies and then today I hit some — a beautiful drive on 18 and the 5th I birdied. To play those two holes 1-under you’re probably picking up two shots on the field. I got it around nicely. Those were a couple scary tee balls especially for me and I hit two good ones. Lot of it is facing it and the way your eye looks at it. It’s not an easy course, that’s for sure. You can make bogies and doubles on a lot of holes. Guys do well, probably play those tough holes pretty well.

Q. What do you do the rest of the day? You have to play 36 tomorrow?

FRED COUPLES: No, just 18. Actually, no, what am I saying? We’ll play 18 and have a cut and play another 18. I keep thinking today is Thursday. I’m going to go hit some balls for an hour, hour and a half and, you know, go back at 2:00 and rest. Thirty-six holes tomorrow. That will be a jolt for me.

Q. Is that for sure?

FRED COUPLES: We’re going to find out.

Join the forum discussion on this post

Each week during the 2009 season, PGATOUR.COM has spotlighted one key player in the field. (Click here to see previous spotlights.) For this week’s Shell Houston Open, however, we’ve chosen to feature 2009 Presidents Cup captains Greg Norman and Fred Couples.

Couples returns to the Shell Houston Open, where he’s a two-time winner.

Consider this file to be your one-stop source for everything concerning Fred this week, with links to Fred-related content, notes and stats, and video and other multimedia elements. Then, once competition starts, we’ll update this file every day with Fred’s results and statistics after each round in Texas.

We’ll monitor the website and include any new information in the daily updates for this week’s tournament.

The first and second round tee times are also out. Thursday’s round starts at number 10 at 9:20 AM eastern. Friday’s round starts at number 1 at 2:10 PM eastern. His partners are Marc Turnesa and Michael Bradley.

TV this week:
Thu, 4/2: Golf Channel 3-6
Fri, 4/3: Golf Channel 3-6
Sat, 4/4: NBC 1-5
Sun, 4/5: NBC 3-6

Official site: ShellHoustonOpen.com| Tickets

PGA Tour site: Shell Houston Open @ PGATour.com

Defending Champion: Johnson Wagner (-16)

Fred’s putter continued its hot streak as he made 6 birdies and 12 pars – a mark of consistency that he needs heading into this week’s Masters tournament.

There are a couple of photos in the gallery.

Below are two articles from the weekend. (Thanks to Fantastic Freddie Fan Andy for links.)

With an eye on Masters, Couples is heating up – Houston Chroncile

Love backs Couples for Masters – Setanta Sports

And here is the transcript of the Sunday post-round interview.

Q. Freddie, great weekend and a good finish. Clean card today, too, with a 66?
FRED COUPLES: I had a very good round. As you know, last 9 I played yesterday was 7-under and went out today with the idea of trying to continue that, and I did. And it’s a very good course. I felt pretty comfortable.
You know, I certainly wasn’t near the lead. I think I started 7, 8 shots back. I knew if I had a good round, I could finish in the Top-10. That’s what I was striving for. The back-9 I just kept birdieing holes and parred 17 and 18, which I feel like birdies. Two of the hardest holes you’re going to have to play.
I know Johnson Wagner is out there trying his best to get in against Chad Campbell and some of the other guys. It will be tough.

Q. Did you ever take a peek at the scoreboard and say, “Wait a minute. I might be able to get them dudes”?
FRED COUPLES: I did at one time. I think he birdied the 13th, a par-5 to go 4 ahead. I had 17 and 18. Even on 18, I had a 6-iron right where I hit it, 35, 40 feet. I didn’t want to make 5, 6 and finish that way.
He’s got to do the same. You know, one slight maneuver out there and you’re going to have a bad score, and so far he’s done very, very well, and I hope he does. I hope he plays well and wins this thing and be a nice first win.

Q. For you, how good does it feel to be playing well going into next week?
FRED COUPLES: Well, you know, I went to school here and I was telling someone, it kind of gets you charged up, everyone is rooting behind you. 4-putt No. 9.

Q. That’s when I left you.
FRED COUPLES: Thought what are you doing out here? It wasn’t an easy day, and the next day came out and played well and then certainly 67, 66. But I am confident in my game, and I feel good about going into the next week, really do. I don’t know what is going to happen, but I feel like if I get there and play good golf and putt like I did today, I can be a factor, and, if not, you know, I’ll have to shoot some really, really good scores to hang in there.

Q. You finished with a 66. You got to be happy going to Augusta this week.
FRED COUPLES: I am. I played very well yesterday and today. As I told you people, went to work with Butch last week for five days, which a lot of it was having fun. Wasn’t really hard work. But he had me doing a few things. I tried them and did well with them yesterday and today. So that’s really the biggest bonus is what he was telling me I could do under a little bit of pressure.
So when I get to Augusta, he’s going to be there. I’ll keep working. To come back to Houston where I went to school and play well, I don’t get this very often. So I get people screaming for me, it’s usually when I hit it out of the trees or whatever. Today was truly a lot of fun and, you know, I hope to finish up there and looks like I’m doing all right.

Q. Did you have some goals heading into this tournament before Augusta? If so, did you accomplish them this weekend?
FRED COUPLES: I wanted to take — get with Butch and come here and be able to put it on the course. And I was okay the first day, but then the last three rounds, you know, I did really well. So the accomplishment was obviously 7-under or 6-under today, moving up the leaderboard, you’re going to do that on any day. And hitting good shots. 17, 18, 16 — 16, I hit really quality shots, and I feel like leading into Augusta if I can get some good practice Tuesday and Wednesday. I hope to continue it, but not shooting these scores, just continuing hitting the ball well.

Q. You’ve been down Magnolia Lane so many times. What do you to to prepare for your first tee time on Thursday?
FRED COUPLES: I don’t overdo it. I played the course a hundred times. I can tell where the pin is, where the wind is. There’s a few tee shots out there that you really have to pay attention to. And when I’m playing the practice rounds, 95 percent of the holes, I’m out there helping the guys I’m going the play with, John Rollins and Daniel Chopra on Tuesday, give them a word of thought, and then when there’s a shot out there like on 11, 12, pay really a lot of attention.
Other than that, I’ll work with Butch on the range and try to get this thing grooved in where I go to the first tee and feel comfortable.

Q. You said, Hey, you know what, maybe I can work this week and go from 35 to maybe Top-20 at the Masters. Are you thinking after this you could still win this?
FRED COUPLES: I think I was answering a question about someone talking about making the cut at Augusta. If you’re trying to make the cut, then you’re going to barely make — in my opinion, you barely make the cut because that’s what you’re shooting for.

I was saying how I don’t want to go. I want to be up there and play well. That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen because I like it to. My goal, I have a cut streak there. It’s not my goal to make the cut.
My goal is to play well, and if I do that, I’ll make the cut. If I don’t play well, then I’ll worry about making the cut with nine holes to go on Friday. That’s not what I want to worry about on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Q. Fred, you won on the other course, but I guess you’re taking a liking to this one now.
FRED COUPLES: It’s a great course. I played pretty well. I got accustomed to it. I played the Pro-Am Wednesday, which is my first time on it. I got a little better each day. Obviously the weather was beautiful. The one tough day I didn’t have to go out and play in that weather. I had a good round in the morning.
I hit the ball well. Yesterday I had a great, great last 9 and shot 7-under. Went out today and shot 6-under, which is surprising, but, you know, it’s one of those courses you keep it out of trouble, if you’re a long hitter, you should do well. I birdied all the par-5s and made a couple other nice birdies and no bogies.

Q. Looks like Johnson will probably hold to the win here. You’ve got to feel good, heading in Augusta next week.
FRED COUPLES: If he does do that, he’s earned a win. The back-9 there’s some birdie opportunities. 17 and 18, you can have some fun with those holes. I got through them pretty good. I’m looking forward to Augusta, no doubt. I will be there and hopefully will continue to hit the ball well and have a good time.

Q. The best you’ve hit it all year.
FRED COUPLES: I hit it pretty well at San Diego. This would be the best I hit it probably since Augusta when I played with Phil. I actually was pretty much in control and hit a lot of good shots.

Q. Johnson Wagner, how impressive is it for a guy to get his first Tour win leading wire to wire and dealing with all that stuff? You know how the kind of grind that can be.
FRED COUPLES: It’s very impressive. To be able to be in the lead or near the lead for 72 holes is not an easy thing to accomplish. Usually it’s done by a player who has done it before, but it looks good right now, and I wish him all the luck the last couple holes, but it’s a big deal.
This is a big tournament. It’s very tough course. So to get your first win, you know, at Shell is nice, and I hope he pulls it off.

Q. Fred, with your back, you try to take it easy tomorrow at Augusta?
FRED COUPLES: No. Actually, I’ve got a little bit of a back problem at the moment, and I’m going to see my guy tomorrow morning for about a half day. And if I have to stay Tuesday, I’ll stay. I’ve been twitching the last two days and finally twitched one too many times, and I don’t feel as good as I did on Friday. That’s for sure. I’ll be fine.

The round didn’t start out so well – Fred went out (playing the back nine first) in a 2-over 38. Hardly a precursor of what would come, Couples took a double bogey on his eighth hole.

Things immediately changed when Fred reached the first hole – his tenth. He would make a 10 footer for birdie there and follow it up from 10 feet for another birdie on the second hole. A two-putt par on the third would be followed by an eagle at the par 5 fourth. A 320 yard drive left 207 yards to the hole. Fred would hit the shot from the rough to 15 feet and proceed to make the putt. Fred would make a 20 foot putt at the difficult par 4 fifth hole.

Incredibly, the 29 and amazing string of holes would be interuppted by a bogey on the par 4 sixth hole. Fred was unable to get up and down from the greenside bunker. But perhaps it was an inspiration for what was to come on the last three holes.

The par 3 seventh would see Fred’s red hot putter drain a 29 footer for yet another birdie. Fred would reach the par 5 eighth in two, leaving 25 feet for eagle. He would just miss the putt and tap in for – broken record – another birdie. Finally, perhaps the highlight of the day, the par 3 ninth – Fred’s last hole of the day. Fred’s tee shot would nearly fall in the hole for a walk off hole-in-one – alas, he would tap in the 1 footer for his third birdie in a row and a back nine 29.

The third round 67 would move Fred all the way up to a tie for 10th place. He finds himself eight shots behind leader Johnson Wagner. Fred will go off at 1 PM Eastern with Bart Bryant.

Below is a recount of the round from Fred fan shanny:

Got to SHO just as Fred was teeing off on 17, his 8th of the day. He was -2 at that point. Long walk to 17, so we decided to wait at 18 for him to tee off. It was real cold for Houston. Maybe 52 and very windy. He came up to 18 and you could see from the sign girl that he was even, so he had just doubled 17.

Teed off on 18 to a side hill lie on a farway bunker, hit a fat shot to about 10 yards short of the green. From there he hit a quick chip without waiting for either playing partner to mark their ball, although both were in play. At that point I was thinking, “oh no, here we go. Fred’s gonna dial it in for the final 9.” Then he chipped to about 6″ and putted for par.

Then within 10 minutes it warmed up to 70 and the wind died. On 1, a short par 4, a funny thing happened. Fred walked up and Joe handed him driver still with the head cover on. I turned to my wife and said no way is Fred hitting driver. When it was his turn he started to take the cover off, noticed it was driver, started laughing and handed it back to Joe. He then grabbed what looked like a 5 wood. Just as he was about to hit Joe came out to the tee with his bag, just like Tiger’s caddy does. Like he was trying to get Fred to rethink driver. Fred laughed, and waved him away. He then hit a perfect 5 wood and went over and put his arm around Joe. I have seen Fred play many times and it was easily the most relaxed I have ever seen him.

Off course from there he played one of the best 9 holes of golf I have ever seen. He shot 29 and it easily could have been 26. He should not have bogied from the bunker. His missed eagle by 1 inch on 8 and a hole in one by 1 inch on 9.

The course is beautiful and it was an incredible day.

And here is the transcript of his post round interview:

Q. What happened today?
FRED COUPLES: I don’t know. One of those 9s where I hit a lot of good shots. One hole I bogeyed I hit a bad 6-iron into a bunker. Made a few putts, hit it close, and had fun things happen. Almost made a hole in 1 on 9. It’s that kind of course where I think the greens are so perfect that if you just make some putts, it seems like you can make them in a stretch.

Q. All right. Heading to Augusta next week. Twenty-three straight cuts. You broke the record on the front nine or tied it today. Does that have significance to you?
FRED COUPLES: Actually, yesterday to make the cut was a big deal so I can keep working on my game to get there. I don’t feel like to — I want to make the cut at Augusta. Feel like I can play well there. It is a nice streak. I’ve had a lot of good finishes there. Hopefully when I go, I won’t be too worried about making cut because I don’t want to make just cut. I want to move up where I’m 20th, 30th spot, not 50th.

Q. What was your favorite 9 today?
FRED COUPLES: Birdied — made the turn and parred 18 to make the turn at 2-over, which felt like a birdie. And then hit it about 10 feet on the first and made it and hit a good wedge on 2 to about 8 feet and made it.
Then No. 4, par-5, I hit a 4-iron to about 15 feet and made it for eagle. Next hole I hit a good driver and 8-iron, probably 25 feet and made it for birdie.
The next hole, hit a good drive and an 8-iron into the bunker in the right and didn’t get up and down. Next hole hit a 9-iron probably 30 feet, made it for birdie.
Then 8, hit a 3-wood into the green, probably 30 feet, 2-putted for birdie. And then 9, hit a 4-iron to 10 inches and made it for birdie.

Q. You’re not peaking early, are you?
FRED COUPLES: I played okay. It was fun. I bogeyed the first hole from 80 yards from the middle of the fairway. Then played pretty well, and then hit a horrible drive on 17 in the hazard and made double.
Other than that, I actually had a handful of birdie putts, 2, 3 in the front that could have made and didn’t and birdied the par-5 and all heck broke loose on the second 9.

Q. The weather warmed up a little bit. Did that help you?
FRED COUPLES: Not really — yeah, it did. Playing-wise it did, you know, just played with a coat on the first nine holes and weather got beautiful.
Yeah, everyone is playing pretty good golf. Chad Campbell is phenomenal, and there’s a couple other good scores. There’s a lot of guys even or 1-over not playing too bad.

Q. What would be a nice reward tomorrow?
FRED COUPLES: Yesterday was a good round. As it turned out, shoot 1-under and make the cut, but I played really, really well. I’ve been with Butch for five days last week, worked on my game. Would have been a problem to miss the cut and go to Augusta and keep working on it. So I got today I worked on it and tomorrow, too.
So, you know, score is important, but I feel like I’m playing pretty well. You know, I feel like I can go out and shoot under par again. If it’s nice, under par is not a great round, but if it’s tough and windy, you know, I can get through the round and hopefully have a good day.

Q. You won on the other course, but, you know, you’re a fan favorite around here. Does that help when you get going well, too, that, you know –
FRED COUPLES: It happened so fast. I birdied 1 and 2, eagle on 4 was a big deal, you know. And yesterday I was 3-under after 4. Today, I birdied 5. So that’s probably the hardest hole on the course. That was nice because I stood up there and hit a couple good shots and felt pretty comfortable. Be in much better shape tomorrow, and hopefully stand up and hit some more good shots, but my goal is to play well and keep it going. Not shoot 29 but to get it solid so when I get to Augusta, I won’t kill myself Tuesday and Wednesday. I’m not doing anything Monday.
With the people out there, yeah, they’re all rooting hard and picked up a little more of a gallery. But again, it was like a bang, bang, bang. I birdied the last three holes.

Q. What are you working on with Butch?
FRED COUPLES: Just some to shorten my swing, keep my knees a little flat, all the good stuff. I was going to work with Rod Pampling, but he’s been busy. But typical stuff, you know. Little sloppy and, you know, I mean, it’s not when I do — when I do it right, I hit a beautiful shot. I can tell the difference as soon as I make contact with the ball that it’s — I can still get away with shots. When I really hit them bad, you know, I can justify what he’s telling me. That doesn’t mean you never hit a bad shot, because I hit plenty of them. I get long and drop underneath and hit them high and to the right. That’s what I really don’t want to hit.

Q. Is this saving your back somewhat?
FRED COUPLES: Got nothing to do with that.

Q. You’ve had a couple of good tournaments this year, couple of okay tournaments.
FRED COUPLES: Well, just one good one and good first round at Bay Hill that I finished last. Like at Tampa, I played pretty good, and I don’t know where I finished, but just the way I play. I’m not going to kill anybody out there. But if I go play well, at least it’s a positive thing.
And, you know, I’m not out here to not play Saturday and Sunday. But making the cuts and finishing 50th or 60th, that’s not really much fun, to be quite honest with you. But if we’re 20 weeks into the year and I continue to do this, then I’ll really hate it. After not playing last year, you know, I have to start somewhere. If I take a year off and come out and my eighth week on Tour finish and play decent, then that’s a good thing. If I keep finishing where I am, I don’t want to continue another three months from now doing this.

Q. Going into next week, obviously it’s a nice boost because Augusta is one of your favorite places and you like the play there.
FRED COUPLES: If I don’t play well tomorrow, I’m not going to be frightened to go play Augusta, but it can work the other way a lot better than it can the other way. I’m hoping to have a little more confidence.
Like I said today, the round, didn’t really worry about my score and I was trying to work on a couple things, which is not easy to do when you’re hitting out some of these shoots you have. But I pulled off a lot of them, and in the back-9 it was just a freakish thing to do that. I don’t know if I’ve ever done that, shot in the 20s.

Q. Is Augusta the one place you still show up to no matter how you feel and just start to get those expectations again? Because no matter — you seem to be able to find your way around there.
FRED COUPLES: It wasn’t that long ago, you know, compared to a lot of other tournaments and with Phil and last year was a throw out year, but I, quote made, the cut which, didn’t really matter to me, but I did make it and fun to play on the weekend.
This year my goal is to go play in the tournament and do well. And if I happen to make the cut one more time, that’s a nice thing. But I don’t want to worry about making the cut because if you do that, then you’re going to barely make the cut. You’re going to play to make the cut. I got to go out there and play like I can get myself in position to do well. It’s not easy to do. It’s an extremely, extremely hard course and the main thing when I get through will be putting.
I don’t think I’m going to all of a sudden hit it 50 percent better than I am now, but if I can go putt well, I think I can compete.

Q. This wasn’t like a Players’ Championship a couple years ago when you were all over the place, like what are you doing?
FRED COUPLES: Not quite. I was there five days. Tired of seeing him, actually. I got tired of seeing my swing. It works both ways with Butch.

Q. Where did you work last week?
FRED COUPLES: Vegas. I don’t know how he got it. Adam was there.

Q. Was Butch sick?
FRED COUPLES: That’s what Adam said. I didn’t think he was, but he’s a tough kid. I saw him this morning. He got no chance of playing.

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Fred would give one shot back at the difficult fifth as a wayward drive well to the right of the hole led to a bogey.

Fred would then go on to par six holes before coming to the short par four 12th hole. Fred’s drive was able to reach the green leaving around 37 feet for eagle. He would go on to make the putt long putt moving him to 4-under for the day. Fred birdied the par five 13th and stood pat 5-under for the day and 4-under for the tournament – near the top 10. However, bogeys at the 16th and 18th would drop him back to where he currently sits – 2-under for the tournament and 10 shots behind leader Johnson Wagner.

Fred was able to make three birdies on the day, but a bizarre double bogey on the ninth hole, Fred’s last, dropped him from red figures.

Couples hit his tee shot on the par 3 ninth to right side of the hole, off the green. He proceeded from there to chip to about 5 feet. It would take Fred three putts from there – including a stabbing effort on the second putt that missed the cup – to finish.

Fred will tee of tomorrow at 8:50 AM Eastern from the first hole. PGATour.com is running a free test of it’s replacement for TourCast, which allows you to follow any tour player around the course shot-by-shot. It requires a free account with PGATour.com to use. (Thanks to Fantastic Fred Fan canadianfreddiefan for the heads up on the free tourcast.)