GOLF / MAL FLORENCE : A New Big 3: Couples, Love and Cook

Parity is the word frequently used to describe the competitive nature of the PGA Tour.

With quality depth, it’s supposedly improbable that more than one player will be marginally dominant in any given year.

So much for theories.

Fred Couples and Davis Love III have each won three tournaments and John Cook has won two only four months into the season.

In other words, three players have already won eight of the 17 tour events.

And Couples lost to Corey Pavin in a playoff in the Honda tournament in March, denying himself an opportunity of being a four-time winner.

The same can be said of Love, who lost in a playoff to Couples in the Los Angeles Open.

Couples has achieved more celebrity because one of his victories in a major tournament, the Masters.

Now Couples is being asked about his prospects of victories in the three other major events--the U.S. and British Opens and the PGA Championship--which would give him the modern Grand Slam.

In a phone interview, Couples said: “I think the days are past when a guy wins eight, or 10 majors in his career. I’m sure Tom Watson will win another one, or two (majors), but I can’t see him winning three, or four.

“If a guy could win two, that’s some story. You don’t get a whole lot of luck in these tournaments.”

Watson has won eight of the major events, and Jack Nicklaus has won 20, among them two U.S. Amateur championships.

The U.S. Open in June at Pebble Beach will be the next major tournament and, Couples indicated, the most difficult to win.

“I’m going to prepare myself the best I can and, realistically, I think I can win it,” he said. “But up to the last three, or four years, I didn’t think my game was good enough to play four days in a row with fairways that tight and rough that high.

“In Augusta (where the Masters is played), you can get away with a few stray shots if you keep the ball below the hole. But in the U.S. Open, if you’re in the lead with six or eight holes to play, you have to hit a fairway and normally a green that is rock hard. And that takes all the skill you have. “That’s why scores in the U.S. Open are closer to par. No one is running away from the field.”

Britain’s Nick Faldo is the last player to have won two majors in a year--the Masters and British Open in 1990.

Couples’ best finish at Pebble Beach was fourth in 1987, but that was the regular PGA Tour event that is played in February, when the weather is far different than in June. He said he hasn’t played there in recent years.

“I don’t play the AT&T; because of the timing and weather, which can affect me for a couple of weeks,” Couples said. “I try not to play (in places), where I could get sick, or ruin my swing.”

Even though Couples has improved his game, he’s not sure that he’s a better player just because he won the Masters.

“A lot of people made a big deal out of the majors and whether I was going to be a better player if I won a major,” he said. “To me, I’m still the same player, but I’ve won one more tournament and it happens to be a major tournament.”

Couples had been previously criticized by Tom Weiskopf, who said that Couples didn’t have any goals.

Couples differs, saying: “I accomplished a goal (winning the Masters) that I really had. A lot of people don’t think I’m goal oriented, but I don’t go around telling people I want to win a million dollars by April (which he has), or win three tournaments.”

Raymond Floyd, who finished second at Augusta, said that Couples, sometimes called an underachiever, has reached another level with his game.

“I have a long way to go and I’m (only) 32 years old,” Couples said. “As far as being on a plateau, the last year and a half has been unbelievable (six victories, one unofficial in tour standings), but (what he learned when he was starting out) eight years ago helped me to get to this point. I was doing the best I could, but my golf game just wasn’t good enough to be where some people thought it would be.”

Mark Calcavecchia has sent a letter of apology to Brian and Gail Henderson for an incident during the second round of the L.A. Open.

Calcavecchia slammed his driver onto a cart path after an errant tee shot, shattering the head of the club, the pieces narrowly missing Gail Henderson’s head.

The letter:

“I regret the L.A. Open incident. It was unprofessional of me and I have been dealt with quite harshly by the PGA tour. Needless to say my fine was quite heavy. I am thankful no one got hit by my temper tantrum. No one felt worse than me, believe me. It was very embarrassing for me to have done that. I am very sorry!!”

Golf Notes

Fred Couples, honorary chairman for National Golf Day, set a target score for the event on April 20 at a course in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He made it easier on players everywhere by shooting a 74, two over par. On Aug. 22, golfers, who donate $5 to the PGA Foundation, will attempt to beat Couples’ score by using their full handicaps.

The Eagle tournament at Green River Golf Club in Corona is scheduled Friday. Proceeds benefit the Christ College Irvine Athletic Dept. . . . The sixth annual Monty Hall tournament to benefit the 14th Maccabiah Games will be held June 1 at the Calabasas Country Club. . . . A two-man better ball, gross and net, is scheduled May 16 at Valencia CC. . . . The 19th annual Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital tournament is scheduled June 6 at Valencia CC and Vista Valencia course. . . . The 12th annual Greater Los Angeles/NFL Alumni charity tournament is scheduled June 8 at Los Coyotes CC. The tournament features an 18-hole team scramble format.

The California-Berkeley golf tournament will be held next Saturday at the Desert Island Golf and Country Club in Rancho Mirage. . . . Brookside Golf Course will be the site of the eighth annual Ricky Bell Memorial Scholarship Fund tournament on June 12. . . . The Los Angeles Police-Celebrity tournament is scheduled May 16 at Rancho Park. The tournament benefits the Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation. . . . Ground was broken last Tuesday for the construction of a new irrigation system for the Eaton Canyon course in Pasadena. . . . The annual Boy Scouts-Los Angeles Raiders tournament is scheduled June 15 at Riviera CC. The tournament raises funds for the Boy Scouts’ handicapped program.