Fred Couples takes charge at Newport Beach
Fred Couples spent Friday attracting most of the attention at the 16th annual Toshiba Classic. Saturday, he just stole the whole show.
He shot the lowest score in the second round — a seven-under-par 64 — and he takes a two-shot lead into Sunday’s final round at Newport Beach Country Club.
Tom Lehman, who had the second-lowest score in the second round (65), is tied for second with Chien Soon Lu, who shot a 67. Loren Roberts and Ronnie Black are four shots off the lead.
Couples, the 1992 Masters Champion, started the day a shot behind first-round leaders Bob Tway, Mark Wiebe and Lu. A little rain didn’t hurt Couples’ game.
Before he teed off, there was a 71-minute delay, as rain and wind brushed through Newport Beach.
The rain softened up the poana greens for the golfers. The wind stuck around, but it wasn’t enough to knock Couples back. There’s not much slowing him down on the Champions Tour.
He strikes the ball with such force that it puts him on another level on this 50-and-over tour. He opened the year with a second-place finish and followed that up with a victory. Now in his third event in his first year on the tour, he’s on the path to another win.
“I think that’s why I’m going to enjoy playing out here,” Couples said in reference to being the man to beat on the Champions Tour. “I feel like everyone has a time. When you’re 50 and you’re a good player, which I think I am, you should be a competitor out here.”
It’s a rather simple formula for Couples. While on the Champions Tour, he’s considered a young gun, but just last week, he finished tied for 14th in the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open.
Lehman, who was tied with Couples at the Phoenix Open, also had a nice round Saturday , but even he was left praising Couples.
“Every time he tees it up he plays extremely well,” the 1996 British Open winner said of Couples. “I’m sure he will [Sunday] as well. …It’s good to see him play well. He brings a lot to this tour. He’s always been a fan favorite. He has a great way of playing golf, a real casual approach. But he is a very competitive person … It will be fun [Sunday].”
Couples looked like he was having fun in the second round. He seemed to take over the tournament on the front nine, shooting five-under 30, tying the tournament record set by Mark Johnson.
That guy was known as, “Beer Man,” because he had been a beer truck driver. Couples is known as, “Boom Boom,” for his length off the tee. That has come in handy during his short time on the Champions Tour. He’s at a staggering 50-under through eight rounds on this tour.
Couples had six birdies, one bogey, and an eagle on No. 3, where he had hit a two-iron to about 12 feet and then sank the putt.
“I played a great round, I really did,” said Couples, who will tee off Sunday at noon with Lehman and Lu. “I hit it solid. I didn’t hit every green. But the best thing is when I had a putt to make birdie, I made most of them.”