Couples Turns (Amen) Corner : Golf: After being the premier player in the world the last year, he finally wins his first major tournament. Save at No. 12 is the key.

Fred Couples reached another level in golf Sunday, one of the highest, by winning the prestigious Masters tournament.

He is regarded as the best player in the world now, and he proved it conclusively at the Augusta National Golf Club.

A talented player who was once labeled an underachiever, Couples shot a steady, two-under-par 70 to beat his friend and mentor, Raymond Floyd, by two strokes.

“If I couldn’t win, I was happy for Freddie,” Floyd said. “It is one more plateau that he has reached. He’ll continue to be known as a great player.”

Couples had a 72-hole score of 275, 13 under par, and he held off a late challenge by Floyd, who was playing one hole ahead of him.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Couples, 32. “I can’t say that I played that well, and I wasn’t that aggressive. But I made some good ups and downs, and I was relaxed on the back nine.”

By winning one of golf’s four major events for the first time--the U.S. and British Opens and PGA Championship are the others--Couples didn’t necessarily believe that it certified his status as one of the game’s great players.

“Every player wants to win a major,” he said. “A major won’t help me or hurt me. I don’t know how to answer that.”

Couples has been a reluctant celebrity this year. He seems uncomfortable with his new status.

However, if he continues to play as he has, he’ll have to get used to it. He has already won three tournaments this year and finished second twice.

With a first-prize purse of $270,000, his earnings have soared to $1,008,162. It is the most money at this stage of the season in tour history.

Corey Pavin, playing several groups ahead of Couples, finished third. The former UCLA star shot a 67 and finished at 10 under for the tournament.

“Freddie is just understanding how good he is,” Pavin said. “He’s going to be great now that he is learning how to win.”

Six players, including Couples, couldn’t finish their rounds Saturday because of an almost three-hour delay caused by an impending thunderstorm with lightning.

He played the final four holes of his third round early Sunday morning. Australian Craig Parry, Floyd, defending champion Ian Woosnam, Ted Schulz and D.A. Weibring also had to finish their rounds early Sunday.

Parry was the leader at the outset of final round at 12 under par. Couples and Floyd trailed by one and two shots, respectively.

Parry faded quickly, and the tournament virtually evolved into a battle between Couples and Floyd, 49, who won the Masters title in 1976 and was beaten by Britain’s Nick Faldo in a playoff in 1990.

Couples went ahead of Floyd by one stroke at the ninth hole when he made a curling, 20-foot birdie putt to go 12 under par.

He increased his lead to three strokes when Floyd got bogeys at the 10th and 12th holes. However, Floyd put some pressure on Couples with birdies at the the 14th and 15th holes.

Floyd said he made the most unbelievable shot he has ever hit when he chipped in for birdie from 45 feet on the par-four 14th hole.

That enabled Floyd to close to within one stroke of Couples. However, Couples also got a birdie at the 14th hole, on an eight-foot putt, to maintain a two-stroke lead over Floyd.

Floyd couldn’t birdie any of the remaining holes, and neither could Couples.

However, Couples made some clutch, par-saving putts, especially at the 17th, where he sank one from five feet.

“Believe me, I knew what he was going through on 17, and he put it right in the middle of the cup,” Floyd said. “That’s what you have to do to win a major tournament.”

Floyd said that Couples is capable of winning more.

“Freddie has the game to win (here) as many times as (Jack) Nicklaus and (Arnold) Palmer,” Floyd said. Nicklaus has won six times here, Palmer four times.

Couples said that the turning point of his round came at the par-three 12th hole, the centerpiece of Amen Corner (the 11th, 12th and 13th holes).

“I was as nervous as I have ever been,” he said.

His tee shot barely cleared Rae’s Creek, landing two feet from the water in the rough with a severe uphill lie.

“I don’t know how it stayed out of the water,” Couples said. “It was probably the biggest break of my life.”

Despite the severity of the slope, Couples said he had a perfect lie. He chipped to within two feet of the cup to save his par.

“I knew if I got by that hole (No. 12), I would win,” Couples said.

Couples was greeted with thundering applause when he walked up the fairway on the 18th hole. He had just hit a seven-iron out of a fairway bunker to within 30 feet of the cup.

He had to wait awhile before he could clinch his victory as Parry tried to get the crowd out of his way before he made an approach shot from the cart path.

Then, Couples calmly stroked his putt to within two inches of the cup and tapped in for his victory.

By winning, Couples broke a recent foreign domination of the Masters. Foreigners have won the past four years and five of the last seven years.

“Being an American, it’s nice to win,” Couples said. “But I didn’t win it for the United States of America, I did it for myself.”

As Couples walked off the 18th green, he was hugged by his wife, Deborah, and Floyd.

“In my mind I felt I would really play well (before the Masters),” Couples said. “I did a lot better than I figured.”

Masters Notes

Mark Calcavecchia shot a record 29 on the back nine. He had an 18-hole total of 65 after earlier rounds of 73, 72 and 75. He broke a record first set by Jimmy Demaret in 1940 and equaled by eight other players including Gene Littler (1966), Ben Hogan (1967), Gary Player (1978) and Jack Nicklaus (1986). Calcavecchia had six consecutive birdies from the 13th through the 18th hole, including four tap-ins. “I think it’s pretty unbelievable, because I’m not one of the best ball strikers in the world,” Calcavecchia said. “I just kept hitting good iron shots. I think I shot 29 at Phoenix once.” . . . Calcavecchia added that he hit “an awful lot of good iron shots this week and didn’t get anything out of them.”

Third-round leader Craig Parry wasn’t pleased with his 78 or with spectators. “Talking to me, coughing deliberately on my backswing, telling me to miss--some of these people shouldn’t be allowed on a golf course,” Parry said. Asked if he also hadn’t received plenty of applause, the Australian said: “Yeah, when I had three three-putts in a row.”

John Daly made some believers with three rounds under par, including Sunday’s 68. He tied for 19th place. . . . Perspective Dept.: Bruce Lietzke said even if he won the Masters, he would not play in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. “My kid’s got a big Little League tournament that weekend,” Lietzke said.

Fuzzy Zoeller had a 31 on the front nine, including an eagle at the par-four, 360-yard seventh hole. However, he had a 38 on the backside for a 69. . . . Seve Ballesteros, a two-time Masters champion, shot an 81, including double, triple and quadruple bogeys.

Work in Progress

A look at Fred Couples’ fast start in 1992:

* Tournaments played: 10

* Victories 3 (L.A. Open, Nestle Invitational, Masters)

* Second-place finishes: 2 (Doral Open, Honda Classic)

* Third-place finish: 1 (Tournament of Champions)

* Top-10 finishes: 7

* Earnings: $1,008,162 (PGA single-season record is $1,395,278 by Tom Kite in 1989)