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Tuesday, May 19, 1998

A Couples of tough losses

By RON SIRAK AP Golf Writer

IRVING, Texas (AP) - Two swings in one month. That's all that stood between Fred Couples and two victories - including the Masters.

In his last three tournaments, Couples has finished second at Augusta National, third at the Houston Open and second Sunday at the GTE Byron Nelson Classic.

Two of those near-misses were the result of shots that splashed into the water on the back nine on the final day of play.

At Augusta in April, Couples plopped one into the creek on the par-5 13th hole and made a double-bogey 7. At the Byron Nelson it was a water ball on the par-3 17th hole on the TPC course at the Four Seasons Resort for a triple-bogey 6.

"What do I learn from this?" Couples said. "I don't learn any more. I learned enough."

What Couples meant is that at age 38 he has learned that life goes on. And what Couples has learned has been not just from his experiences on the golf course but from things off the course as well.

Couples won at the Bob Hope tournament earlier this year - his 13th victory on the PGA Tour but only his second since 1994. And it was not an easy few years for Couples.

His mother died in 1995 and his father passed away last Thanksgiving. His girlfriend was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. He has been through a painful divorce and the public breakup of another relationship.

And through it all Couples has been bothered by chronic back problems that have limited his ability to practice.

"It's given me a kind of peace," Couples said about the turmoil in his life. "I feel comfortable with my father. He had a long life and I realize how lucky I am to be doing what I'm doing. And I have the best girl in the world."

He showed that sense of peace Sunday after he squandered a four-stroke lead on the back nine and let the $450,000 first prize slip away to John Cook, who closed with a 65 to finish three strokes ahead of Couples, Hal Sutton and Harrison Frazar.

"What happened to Fred was a shame but sometimes that's what you need to win a tournament," said Cook, who made four birdies in a six-hole stretch beginning at No. 9.

"I drove the ball well all week," Cook said. "I hit my irons well all week and I putted well when I had to."

Couples also played well, until he hit the back nine of the final round.

"No. 17 was the turning point, certainly," Couples said. "But I played a mediocre round. When John started to make birdies I just didn't have enough."

Couples started the day two strokes ahead of Frazar, his playing playing partner, and four strokes ahead of Cook. He was cruising along when in a matter of minutes a three-stroke lead became one.

While Cook, playing in the group in front of Couples, had a gimme birdie on No. 13, Couples' ball was against the lip of the fairway bunker at No. 12.

He popped it out, pitched to the green and missed a 20-foot try at the par-saving putt.

Cook, who trailed Couples by four strokes when he turned to the back nine, pulled into a tie at 15 under par with a 7-foot birdie putt on No. 14, his fourth birdie in six holes.

After Couples watched Cook make a 6-foot putt to save par on No. 17, he hit the key shot of the tournament.

"When it was in the air, I really felt it was going to be a good shot," Couples said about the 170-yard 6-iron. "When it came up short it was shocking."

But Couples has been through too much in the last few years to let one golf shot rattle him - or even two tournament-costing shots in the past month.

"I won't lose my sense of peace in one day," he said. "That's for sure."