INTERVIEW OF FRED COUPLES

DAVE SENKO:   Fred, maybe, just get us started.  Your thoughts on your year so far – a win, runner‑up, and then a good showing last week in Phoenix. 

FRED COUPLES:  Yes, I have been playing well.  I've gotten off to a great start.  I think I played maybe just as well in LA and Phoenix as I did the other places except, you know, I didn't make as many putts, not to shoot 20‑under or whatever they were.  But I played well.  So that was a good time.  Then, obviously, in Hualalai and Naples, to finish second to Tom (Watson) was a great week.  And then to win at Naples was a blessing to win my first Champions Tour event that fast, and hopefully will continue to play well. You know, I know I still can play golf. I have had two great events on the Champions Tour. And I hope to continue to play out here the same way. 

Q. What's your schedule going to break down, between the two tours this year?

FRED COUPLES:  Well, I'm going to play Cap Cana, the next event. I'm going there. I'm going to play Houston, and then Augusta and then play with Jay Haas at the (Liberty Mutual) Legends (of Golf). And, to be honest with you, the TPC. And then there are a couple of other events in there, and that's it, probably, on the regular TOUR; Houston and the TPC and maybe one toward the end of the year.  So that will be, like, six, counting Augusta. It's a pipe dream to think 13 or 14 Champions Tour events, but it will probably be more like 12. So that will give me about 18 tournaments, which I think is as much as I can handle. 

Q. Freddie, when you are picking your schedule for this year, how did you determine the tournaments you were going to play in and what made you specifically say you were going to play here at Newport Beach?

FRED COUPLES:  On the regular TOUR, it's easy, I went to school in Houston.  I love the L.A. Open.  My girlfriend lives in Phoenix.  I won't skip The Masters.  And then there might be another one in there I'm missing. Then on the Champions Tour, to be perfectly honest with you, I don't even know what ones. I don't even know the names of them. But I'm going to play about 12 or 13 of them.  It sounds funny, but there is a little bit of a roll. I'm going to play Cap Cana after a couple of weeks off. Then I will go to Houston and be ready for Augusta. Then I believe I am going to play a couple of times in Seattle. I'm going to play JELD‑WEN, the majors. 

I'm not sure if I can handle the British Senior trip.  That one is probably a 20 percent job.  I don't think at that time of the year I want to fly that far. Although, Cap Cana is a long way, too.  You never know what I might end up doing.  But I am going to Cap Cana, for sure.

Q. How important is it that you be ready for the U.S. Senior Open, being the honorary chairman and playing well in that event coming home? Is that why you might skip the Senior British?

FRED COUPLES:  That would be a good reason to. You know, I've played in Seattle just a couple of times. It's my hometown. I don't get up there much, so I really want to play well, but to have my first Senior Open at Sahalee in Seattle will be a great, great week. So I am going to do everything that I can to be ready play.  If I don't go to the British Seniors, I know I'm going to Canada to play.  That would be on the regular TOUR, because it's important for me to play the week before, even if I go to Seattle and play with friends, it's still not the same. So I'm looking forward to that. 

And, obviously, Boeing is another great one.

            But the Senior Open, you know, that's a big week. I know whenever I am the host or the honorary chairman it's kind of funny to me, but I'm loving doing it.  Funny in a way that it's a U.S. Open. Whether it’s a Senior Open or a regular one, but I am from there and I hope to help the tournament and make sure that it goes well and we can come back sooner than later to have it again.

Q. You are the greatest golfer to come out of Seattle. Do you take pride in that, obviously?  Do you think about that?

FRED COUPLES:  You know what I do? I take pride in being from Seattle.  I don't live there. It's where I grew up. I pay attention to the Huskies. I pay attention to the Seahawks.  I love to see what's going on up there. As far as being the best golfer, you know, I never – I play golf.  I'm a very good player.  There are a lot of great players from up there.  But I just include myself in a lot of the guys I grew up with, like Scott Williams and John Bracken, who I see all the time. They are all nice golfers that just never turned pro and never became a good player.

            I take pride in really being from the northwest. I think it's hard to travel and play. I could never have lived there while I was playing.  It's just too far to go. And I ended up being in California. Why?  I really don't know. Seattle would have been tough, but I love the fact that this golf course here is a lot like the courses I grew up on which has given me a lot of help. I play Riviera every year.  It's a lot like the courses in Seattle.

            I've done that a lot on the PGA TOUR where there are courses that suit my game. And that's basically because there are real small greens up there, good bunkers, and you got to drive it pretty well. Even though I'm not known for hitting every fairway, I still like the shape of the holes and this course here is a lot like that. 

Q. When you were coming in and up to this year, did you have sort of a game plan mapped out, and what were your expectations as far as how you thought you would do?

FRED COUPLES:  Well, to be honest with you, November, my back was gone so I wasn't even playing golf.  So I was real concerned about playing.  You know, that's a good question because at the end of last year I could have played at Houston and San Antonio after the President's Cup. And I was playing no other golf at that time. So I didn't want to go and just go through the motions and be a guy in the tournament. And at Hualalai I played for about 8 straight days at home in the desert after I started feeling better, and I started playing really well. When I went there, it just kept going and it's gone pretty well since.

            But my expectations, you know, are really to play well.  Even at 49 or 50 on the regular TOUR, my expectations are to play well. Now, am I going to win on the regular TOUR? You know I had a couple of chances last year. Am I going to win out here? I just did, and I think I will win more. But my expectations are always to play well. And if that means getting around the course and finishing fifth and I felt like I played well, then I think that's a good week. 

            But to go play in tournaments, and really not play well to me is no fun.  Everyone does it. But, I mean, I don't want to do it for very long. So now my time is pretty much on the Champions Tour and I think I can compete out here.  Now I got to figure out for how long.  And if it's three or four years, I think that's great, if I can last that long.

Q. Does the three-day format work better for you, do you think than a four-day?

FRED COUPLES:  Well, I did get out of the Pro‑Am yesterday because my back is a little edgy.  But, for me, it will still be a pretty much full week, which I think is great.  I think that's why I played well at Hualalai and at the Quarry, or Naples, because I played the course twice.  I went to Phoenix.  I got in Wednesday.  I didn't play the golf course.  I played it 20 years in a row. Where I've never seen this course. I've never seen the Quarry. I never saw Hualalai. So a couple of Pro‑Ams is good.  But it gives me days to keep going.  So the three rounds is fine.

            But the three rounds in the tournament, you really have to play well. I mean, if you have a mediocre day in a four-round event, it better not be too mediocre. I laugh when people say on the regular TOUR, you can't play bad golf. On the Champions Tour you can't play bad golf.  It's three rounds.  But Tommy Armour a week ago, or two weeks ago, shot 61, almost won, and I don't know if he had a great first round or second round or what, but it could be done. So I just look at it as being prepared and, you know, being where I think I should play well most of the weeks.

Q. So Fred, your Pro‑Am yesterday was the first time you ever played this course?

FRED COUPLES:  Today. They gave me a break yesterday. I didn't have to come up and play. I stayed at home and kind of got worked on a little bit, came up late last night and played today.

Q.            What are your feelings?

FRED COUPLES:  Actually, it's a great golf course. It's in great shape. You have to drive the ball really well.  I think a long hitter, like any golf course, it will help you if you drive the ball well.  The greens are small.  You know, I think it suits my game.  I feel like I'm driving it well and I'm a good iron player and, you know, I should be able to play this course.  I hope to.

Q. Were you surprised at your start that you did so well so quickly?

FRED COUPLES:  I made the comment, I had a great shot winning my very first one.  The guy (Tom Watson) birdied the last two holes.  He is one of the top players to ever play, and I looked at it, and it was disappointing.  Then I went to the next one and won. You know, to be honest with you, I thought really I never had negative thoughts, but I thought, ‘God, if I get in contention and I battle with some guy I haven't  really won a tournament in a long time, I may not close the deal.’

            And actually, Tommy, I thought I had the Naples tournament won. I have gone through that a lot of times now. But I'm 6- or 7‑under par and leading, starting the day by three or four shots, and I was just shocked. So that was good, or nice of me to be able to birdie the 17th hole and beat him by a shot.

Q.            Is there something about this Tour that you didn't realize, or it surprised you?  Or do you pretty much know what you are getting into. 

FRED COUPLES:  Nothing surprises me.  They are all great players.  I don't know a lot of them, meaning I don't know a lot of them. I don't even know a lot of the guys that I would consider to be surprise players out here because they didn't play the PGA TOUR.  But I watch them hit balls.  I went up and said hello to a couple of some of them. Mike Goodes is one. He is a great player. 

But the obvious guys are a little older now. 

            When I was watching a lot, it was the Bruce Lietzkes who were winning a lot, the Tom Purtzers.  I think these guys are way up in there late 50's. They're all my buddies. Tom Purtzer, Jay Haas, Curtis (Strange), these are the ones that used to help me on the regular TOUR when I was a young kid.  Now I'm out here, Bobby Watkins, that part is fun.  I say Bobby Watkins, he is a guy that I played practice rounds with a lot.  So out here there are no practice rounds really, except for maybe a major.

            But the surprises -- they shoot awfully low.  That is surprising.  I just looked at this (last year’s Toshiba Classic scores) because I wanted to see, and I open it up and (Bernhard) Langer (shoots) 67, 65, 67.  Those are great scores. I don't know how the weather was last year, but it's going to be a little tough this week, so I hear. But they just shoot really, really low.

Q.            These are the same guys that counseled you on the regular TOUR, you got advice from?

FRED COUPLES:  Yes, they've already told me where to play, where not to play.  I laugh because Jay plays the ones he is telling me not to play at. (Laughter).  And he is not here this week. He texts me all the time, where to stay and all of that.

            Look, I'm 50, I played really well last week in Phoenix.  I had a great time. I would like to continue to play a handful of tournaments on the regular TOUR. I'm a Champions Tour player now.  It's part of the deal.  I have no problem with that.  I've been waiting 10 years ago. I didn't think I would want to play the Champions Tour. It was not that big of a deal. When I got to be 46, I started thinking, they should have to lower the age on the Champions Tour. And I was able to play a handful of times a year pretty well to kind of keep me interested. And then now, in my mind, I think I fit well out here, and I think I'll help The Tour just like Corey Pavin and Tom Lehman and Tom Pernice when he starts to play and the rest of the guys. The reason why I named those guys because we are all just 50. 

            Obviously, Bernard Langer, Jay Haas, Loren Roberts, these guys have dominated this Tour for a long, long time and I feel like I could battle with those guys and have a good time doing it.

Q.            It seems like you embraced the rookie role here?

FRED COUPLES:  Yes, I mean, you know, it's the only time you are rookie where you really are not a rookie. I've been doing it since I was 20. But it is a challenge. But it's a very fun thing. I’m paired with Mark O'Meara and Tom Watson this week. How much fun is that? The week before, I played I was with Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen, then you go by scores and you get paired with what you shoot.  Those are great pairings, fun. So, to me, that will be a big deal out here, is to play with the better players and learn how to play.  I watch the Broken Sound tournament, most of it, watched Bernhard beat John Cook. It's really good golf. 

Q. I know you consider yourself a Champions Tour player. What's your goals until you retire on this Tour?

FRED COUPLES:  You know, I'm not a big goal person, and retiring is a word where I will play until I physically am not able to compete because of an injury or my back or whatever. I mean I've said it my whole career.  My goals are really to be prepared.  I would say for quite a few years I was going to the tournaments just to play.  And now on the Champions Tour, I think I will be prepared because I'm playing, really, two practice rounds at every tournament I play in. And I think that's pretty good preparation. Any time you go play two days in a row. Maybe you get the wind one day, then you get the wind another day, you are going to be ready to play. That's a good thing for a first-year player, for a rookie to be in those Pro‑Ams because I don't think I've played three or four of these courses in a year. 

            But if we are going to use my description of a goal, I want to do really well. I will not win the Charles Schwab Cup. I won't play enough.  But I want to win tournaments. Next year, I may sit here and tell you my goal is to win the Charles Schwab Cup because I will probably play 18 Champions Tour events.  But I don't think it's capable to play 10 or 12 and beat Bernhard Langer, Jay Haas and Loren Roberts who play well every week. So that's my key, to come out and play well when I play.

Q. Because you are younger than most on the Tour, do you feel pressure to win every time you are out?

FRED COUPLES:  Not really to win.  I feel a little bit of pressure every time I play golf.  But on the first tee tomorrow, I know in my mind that to win this tournament you have to shoot a lot under par. When I go to a PGA TOUR event, I don't stand on the first tee thinking I'm going to cruise in here and be in the final few groups on Saturday and Sunday.  I'm good enough that it could happen. 

But out here, for me to play well, I have to be ready to go tomorrow one minute after I hit my first tee shot. That's a little bit of pressure. But it's all good pressure. 

            It's not like, oh my God, all of a sudden I have a shot at winning a tournament against Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els. I'm out here playing against guys that I'm capable of playing against.  That's how I look at it. I'm not better than Bernhard Langer. I know I can play with him. If I go on the TOUR, and our best player is Tiger Woods, I'm not as good as Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson.  But I battled Phil last year in LA on the last hole until I shanked an iron on my second shot. But, basically, that's how I look at it out here. 

            I think there are great, great players, but if I have a month or two of a stretch where I come play and I am shooting 71 and 72, I'm not going to beat anybody. Then I got to figure out how to get better.

Q. Will it be different being one of the favorites every time you tee it up?

FRED COUPLES:  No, no.  That's actually a great thing.  And if you don't like that, then I should be in Palm Springs playing with the 8-handicaps that I play with.  I'm not being funny.  You know, I went through 8, 10, 12 years where I thought – I didn't win 100 tournaments – but I thought I was someone who could win the tournament. That's how I am out here. If that's every week, I have to earn that.  And, like I said a month from now, if we are at Denver in May at the PGA Championship and I'm finishing 20th every week, I won't be the guy to really worry about at that time.

DAVE SENKO:  Thanks, Fred.