Couples Plays Like a Man With a Cause

Fred Couples, the big winner on the first day of the Skins Game, would rather not be playing.

Couples, who made two birdie putts to win a total of $125,000 Saturday, is filling in for his friend, the late Payne Stewart.

“I wish he was here,” Couples said of Stewart, who died in a plane accident Oct. 25. “As for golf, it’s secondary.

“The idea here is to get money back to Orlando, and it’s going to be a pretty big check,” Couples said, referring to the money the Skins Game competitors are donating to the Payne Stewart Memorial Fund.

Couples is donating 30% of his earnings during the tournament, and the other players are giving 20% of theirs to the Stewart fund. It is traditional for Skins Game contestants to donate 20% of their winnings to a charity of their choice.

Sergio Garcia, the 19-year-old Spaniard who is the youngest player ever in the event, made the shot of the day when he chipped in from 35 yards for an eagle and $50,000 on No. 8.

To cheers from the gallery, Garcia skipped gleefully across the green after the ball bounced a couple of times and disappeared into the hole.

“I enjoyed it; they are great guys,” Garcia said of his first day of the Skins Game. “I had a pretty good eighth hole; I would love to get some more skins, but that was enough for today.”

Defending champion Mark O’Meara won $75,000, and David Duval, shut out a year ago in his Skins Game debut, again failed to win a hole.

The bulk of the $1-million purse, $750,000, will be at stake for today’s second nine holes of the 18-hole event. That includes a $50,000 carry-over from the ninth hole, which was tied, and the $200,000 “super skin” on No. 18.

“We will be playing for a ton of money and we are all very close, even though David has won nothing yet,” Couples said. “By the 11th hole, David could be right back in the game.”

Already the career money leader in the Skins Game with $1.3 million, Couples sprayed the ball off the tee but was steady with his short game over the opening nine holes.

Couples chipped within three feet of the pin and made the birdie putt for $25,000 on the first hole. After the second, third and fourth holes were tied, he rolled in a 12-footer for $100,000 on No. 5.

O’Meara, who won $430,000 in the tournament last year, earned $75,000 with a routine par on No. 7, when Duval, struggling all day, missed a four-footer that would have tied the hole.

“That’s 27 holes I’ve played without winning anything,” Duval said. “Maybe I’ll do better [today].”

The fun-loving Garcia, meanwhile, was trying to add some more skins immediately. He challenged Couples to a tennis match for skins Saturday afternoon. Couples accepted.

In the Skins format, a player wins money if he wins a hole (the “skin”) outright. But if a hole is tied, the money carries over to the next hole, with the pot building until a hole is won.

The first six holes of the Skins Game were worth $25,000 each, with the next six worth $50,000 each. Nos. 13 through 17 are worth $70,000 each, leading up to the $200,000 No. 18.