AUGUSTA, Ga. — Let Tiger Woods have the headlines. Fred Couples was content having the first-round lead at the Masters.
“Yeah, to win Augusta at age 50 would be a pipedream,” Couples, the 1992 Masters champ who has three wins this year on the Champions Tour, said after his 6-under-par 66 Thursday. “Can I still win? Of course. It would be a nice dream, that’s for sure.”
Couples’ unlikely surge — he is the oldest player to hold sole possession of the lead after any round at Augusta National — gave the top portion of the leaderboard a familiar feel. He was one shot ahead of a star-studded group of Tom Watson, Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson, Y.E. Yang and K.J. Choi.
There were names we have known, but it still felt special Thursday.
Couples played in tennis shoes and no socks and shot his best Masters round ever.