Confident Couples playing on to keep tour card

[Dirty]

By Doug Ferguson, AP Golf Writer
CHASKA, Minnesota — Fred Couples is playing on the U.S. PGA Tour for the next two weeks, and not just so he can scout possible captain's picks for the Presidents Cup.
Couples had two brushes with winning this year and was 90th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Trouble is, he has played only 12 events and needs 15 to keep up his membership.
He will at least qualify for The Barclays, the opening playoff event. If he doesn't make it to the second round, Couples would have to add a tournament during the Fall Series.
That led to a question that sent U.S. PGA Tour officials searching through board documents.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: PGA Tour | Tiger Woods | Phil Mickelson | Vijay Singh | Jim Furyk | Sergio Garcia | John Daly | Kenny Perry | Angel Cabrera | Lee Westwood | Henrik Stenson | Fred Couples | Camilo Villegas | Michael Campbell | Juli Inkster | Sean O'Hair | Rory McIlroy | Brandt Snedeker | Ross Fisher | Graeme McDowell | Tim Herron | Kevin Sutherland | Titleist | Briny Baird | D.J. Trahan
The Presidents Cup counts as a tournament entered for the players. Why not the captain? After all, Couples is an active player who will be spending just as much time at Harding Park as anyone else, probably more.
Andy Pazder, the senior vice president of tour administration, went back to the 1994 policy board resolution to study the language, and found "no doubt about the way it was written" that it doesn't apply to captains.
Bad news for Couples, good news for the tournaments he plays.
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FASHION STATEMENT: Tim Herron, the only U.S. PGA Tour player who lives in Minnesota, had to wait around the parking lot at Hazeltine for eight hours on Thursday as the first alternate into the U.S. PGA Championship.
Former U.S. PGA champion John Daly walked by on his way to the tee, and Herron knew his hopes were gone. Making it tougher was learning that Daly, claiming an old rib injury, swatted at putts in making double bogey on the last two holes and withdrew after a 78.
Chances are, Herron would have treated that spot a little differently.
Herron showed up at his home course, Wayzata Country Club, on Saturday morning for a casual round. He was wearing blue-and-white checkered shorts made by Loudmouth Golf, the same shorts Daly wore this year at U.S. Open qualifying.
Coincidence? Think again.
"I would have loved to play," Herron said. "Hey, John's a friend of mine. I can't blame him."
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MAJOR CUTS: Kevin Sutherland didn't think much of it until he walked out of the scoring trailer on Friday after signing his card. He was among a dozen players to make the cut in all four majors.
The list does not include Tiger Woods, who missed the cut at Turnberry; Phil Mickelson, who did not play at Turnberry; and Sergio Garcia, who made double bogey on the last hole at Hazeltine to miss by one. Kenny Perry, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood were the only players in the top 10 to make the cut in all four majors.
The others were Angel Cabrera, Sean O'Hair, Jim Furyk, Camilo Villegas, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Ross Fisher and Vijay Singh.
On the flip side were the four players who competed in every major without making a single cut -- Briny Baird, Brandt Snedeker, and Michael Campbell.
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STARTING FROM SCRATCH: The golf ball war between Titleist and Callaway is headed back to the first tee.
In a big victory for the parent company of Titleist, a federal appeals court last week ordered a new trial in its contentious golf ball patent dispute with Callaway. Acushnet Co. said the three-judge panel found inconsistencies in the jury's verdict, and that the trial court erred by not allowing a defense and the evidence to support it.
The decision also means Titleist can sell golf balls that were at issue in the lawsuit.
Callaway sued in June 2007, claiming that Titleist's popular Pro V1 line of balls infringed on several of its patents. Since then both companies have filed patent infringement lawsuits against each other.
"This very positive Court of Appeals ruling affirms our contention that we were not allowed to argue our full case before the jury, and that the resulting verdict was inconsistent and not sustainable," said Joe Nauman, the executive vice president in charge of legal and corporate matters at Acushnet.
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DIVOTS: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson each have been runner-up six times in the majors. ... Juli Inkster has received an exemption to play in the Samsung World Championship on Sept. 17-20 at Torrey Pines. She is a three-time winner of the event. ... The FBR Open outside Phoenix, which is looking for a new title sponsor after 2010, raised nearly $4.3 million for local charities through The Thunderbirds, the civic organization that runs the tournament.
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STAT: Six players won multiple majors this decade, the fewest since four players with multiple majors in the 1960s.


Confident Couples playing on to keep tour card - USATODAY.com

[Reno Paul]

Couples will be 50 in October....He'd be a welcome addition to the Champions Tour.

[Dirty]

I agree Reno

[YeahBoyHowdy]

couples is my all time favorite golfer. i cut a shit load of yards the summer he won the masters so i could buy the same set of lynx clubs that he played.

[doc mercer]

remember his 1st wife and how she ended things?

jumping off a fuckin roof ....


I remember the big joke on tour was that she was the 60th leading money winner
when they divorced on the money she was getting from his ass every month

Isn't marriage a fuckin special "instutional" form of committment?

[Dirty]

Couples was always My Favorite as well... damn Shame back and personal troubles cost him no telling how many tour wins

[Reno Paul]

He should tear it up on the Champions Tour once he arrives.....He still has the talent and seems healthy enough now.

[Dirty]

he took those 2-3 years off for the most part and got over his Mom and Dad both croaking... and his Ex Wife putting the screws to him

[rjordan1979]

He definitely still has the talent, and one of the best golf swings you'll ever see. He'll style on EVERYONE on the Champions Tour.

[Dirty]

He would be as good as Irwin and Watson were when they went to the Champions Tour

[doc mercer]

The key is he has been playing on the Tour fairly regular up to 50

[Dirty]

If he played 18-20 a year he could still play n the PGA

[doc mercer]

shocked when he got divorced on his recent go around

he "seemed so happy" but we all know how that works: once the "loving" stops the
"bitching" starts

[Dirty]

No doubt... that is why I will never marry again