Captain Couples adds class to the Open field
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday November 17, 2009
FREDDIE COUPLES hasn't quite got the stature of that guy who played in Melbourne last week, nor has he the loyal Australian fan base of the ageing Greg Norman, who still has a touch of magic about him.Even so, the 50-year-old American yesterday became a welcome addition to the field for the Australian Open at the NSW Golf Club early next month after the withdrawal a couple of weeks ago by Norman, who is not yet fully recovered from September shoulder surgery.Norman, though, might still wander the NSW layout on the La Perouse headland during the December 3-6 championship as part of his three-year ambassadorial role with Tourism NSW which was originally premised around him playing the next three opens in Sydney.It's understood big Daryl Reid, boss of New Breed Security who supervised the tossing out of unwanted riff-raff at Norman's wedding to Chris Evert in the Bahamas in June last year and also tagged Tiger Woods in Melbourne last week, has been put on stand-by for duties alongside the Shark during Open week.Couples, of course, was the captain of the US team which beat Norman's Internationals in The Presidents Cup in San Francisco last month and again it is understood that initial approaches to Couples earlier in the year to play the Open did not receive a positive response.But, in Golf Australia's hour of need with the withdrawal of Norman and the defending champion, South African Tim Clark, Couples has said he'll be with us. "Freddie is a fantastic addition to the field. To have someone of his class and charisma is a huge plus," GA's director of tournaments Trevor Herden said yesterday.Couples joins fellow Americans John Daly, Steve Marino, Kevin Stadler, son of The Walrus, and Bryce Molder in the field while all the leading Australians bar Robert Allenby - Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley, Greg Chalmers, Stuart Appleby, John Senden, Nick O'Hern, Rod Pampling and 2009 Canadian Open winner Nathan Green - will be there.And, then there's the new generation headed by James Nitties, Michael Sim and Marc Leishman.Couples, the 1992 US Masters Champion who has 14 other PGA Tour victories, last played the Open in 1998 at Royal Adelaide where Chalmers triumphed by two shots over Appleby and Peter Senior.The American finished tied 16th that week. But, he has won in Australia, in the 1995 Johnnie Walker Classic at Hope Island on the Gold Coast.In 1992, Couples was the world No.1 for 16 weeks, the first American to occupy that lofty spot since the official rankings were introduced in 1986, due largely to his victory in the Masters and two other PGA Tour events that year.Speaking of the '92 Masters, Australians thought - hoped - Craig Parry might win. After two holes in the final round, Parry led by two but bogeyed the third, fourth and fifth holes, all with three putts, but he was playing more than Couples in that final round, he was playing the thousands of fans, too.It wasn't Couples's fault, far from it, but those American fans loved Freddie and there were constant disruptions, such as deckchairs collapsing, as Parry played his shots.Unfriendly, Parry called them at the time.So, does GA mischievously pair Parry with Couples in the first two rounds at the NSW layout to let Australians get square?No, even if they did play together as Parry did with Woods in Melbourne last week, Australian fans are surely more sophisticated than that.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald