Couples’ $635,000 Weekend Includes a $420,000 Hole

Fred Couples won the Skins Game on Sunday with a scrambling birdie worth $420,000 at No. 18, the richest hole in the history of the event.

Already the leading money-winner in the Skins Game, Couples earned $635,000 and 11 “skins” over the weekend, both also records for the 18-hole event.

He was a late entry into the foursome, replacing his friend, Payne Stewart. Couples pledged 30% of his earnings to the Payne Stewart Memorial Fund, honoring the popular player who died Oct. 25 in a plane mishap.

Couples made a record nine birdies over the two days the new Landmark Golf Club in Indio and won the event that began in 1983 for a third time.

He ran his total earnings to $1,975,000 in seven appearances.

Mark O’Meara, the 1998 Skins Game champion with $430,000, finished second this year with $245,000 and five skins. Sergio Garcia, the 19-year-old from Spain who was the youngest player in the tournament’s history, won $120,000 and two skins.

David Duval, playing in his second Skins Game, was shut out for the second time.

Couples, who won two holes for five skins and $125,000 Saturday, began Sunday by adding $100,000 with a two-foot birdie putt at No. 10.

After O’Meara won $170,000 with a curling, 40-foot birdie putt at No. 13 and Garcia collected $70,000 with a two-foot putt birdie at No. 14, the pot built until Couples’ won all the rest of the money with his birdie at the final hole.

On that hole, Couples pitched out of a bush and into the fairway, 208 yards from the green. He then hit a fine four-iron, leaving him a 15-footer for birdie. Garcia’s shot out of the trap gave him a 10-foot birdie try, but he missed. Couples then confidently rolled his putt into the cup to win the hole and the tournament.

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Sweden’s Patrik Sjoland shot a 72 and won the Hong Kong Open by one stroke over Welshman Ian Woosnam. . . . Tsuyoshi Yoneyama birdied the final hole for a seven-under 65 and a one-stroke victory in the $1.3 million Casio World Open at Ibusuki, Japan. . . . Kaori Higo shot a two-under 70 to win her third title this year in the season-ending Japan LPGA Meiji Nyugyo Cup at Sadowara, Japan.