Fred Couples, 65, shoots under par at the Masters to tie record

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Fred Couples scored one for the old guys on Thursday.

Couples, 65, became the second-oldest man to shoot under par at the Masters, finishing with a 1-under 71 that left him walking off the 18th green to the adoration of the thousand or so assembled patrons – and sitting at that moment in the top 10 on the leaderboard.

It was especially sweet for the Seattle native, who had at least some worry he was nearing the end of his Masters career after shooting 80-76 and missing the cut a year ago.

“I can play golf. I can play around here. If the weather is like this and not hard, I can – as long as I don’t do crazy things, I can shoot 73 or 4 or 5. That’s not embarrassing myself at all,” Couples said. “I … come back with 70 or 71 tomorrow, the goal for me is to make the cut. Same with (Bernhard) Langer. Any other ancient guys? (Ángel) Cabrera. That’s really our goal. When I was 50, 51, I actually thought I could do really well, and did a lot of times.

“Today is a hell of a round. I am exhausted, I’ll tell you what.”

Tom Watson also shot under par at the Masters (in 2015), but was about a month older than Couples is now.

On Thursday, Couples shot his score with a flourish, shooting a hole-out eagle on the par-4 14th from 191 yards out. His ball landed in the center of the green and rolled into the cup, and Couples raised a fist before kissing his 6 “rescue” hybrid. He also had a standout birdie on No. 1 – stuck in the back left corner, he rolled in a 48-footer from off the green, over a ridge and into the hole.

“I hit two really, really good shots on 1. I don’t know if anyone saw it,” Couples said.

Couples, who won the Masters in 1992 and is making his 40th appearance at Augusta National, said he cannot recall making an eagle on a par 4 here before Thursday.

Couples has made the cut once in his past six appearances, but said last year’s disappointing tournament was largely due to injuries and playing heavily during the PGA Tour Champions’ West Coast swing.

This time around, Couples said he just practiced putting and chipping a couple of times in the week running up to arrival – “I didn’t even want to feel stiff.”

Couples, long known as one of the more quotable and generally joyful people on tour, is aware he’s playing a different game than everyone else. Asked what advice he gave to playing partner and Masters rookie Taylor Pendrith during the round, Couples quipped, “I can’t really help him on the course because I’m not even near him. We stand on the tee and he hits it 330 and I hit it 275. I’m here and he’s down there.”

Couples shot six shots better on Thursday than Pendrith, 32 years his junior.

A video from December’s PNC Championship in which Tiger Woods expressed astonishment at Couples’ 14-club setup went viral, and it hasn’t changed since then. He is playing with a putter, driver, 3-wood, 5-wood and four different “rescue” hybrids.

“I got a lot of head covers,” Couples said.