Fred Couples discusses friendship with Tiger Woods
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Fred Couples said it’s always good to play with Tiger Woods, who’ll be at the Masters this year along with Couples.
“Always good to talk to him, and then when we come here, we’ll play tomorrow with Justin Thomas, so it’s just fun to tease him and get teased and listen to his stories,” Couples said Monday.
Even though they’ve both gotten older, the conversations haven’t changed, Couples said.
“They’re all about Charlie and Sam, how they’re doing, and he tells me a lot about Charlie, but because Sam is athletic and my wife is very athletic, so we like to know what Sam is doing,” he said.
“A little bit of golf, not so much believe it or not with Augusta. If anyone is going to tell me anything, I’ll listen to him, but I’m not telling him anything about Augusta National. We just chitchat. A lot of sports. His caddie Joe is a sport – knows everything, and then my caddie for this tournament went to Stanford, so he and Tiger have a little bit of ties, so they had a lot of chitchat.”
What was Couples’ impression of the way Tiger hit the ball and how he looked physically?
“How he hit it, he hit it really, really well. He pulled a couple drives. But last year we played, he never missed a shot. I’ve never seen anything like it. For him, he’s just out there just trying to walk around and play,” Couples said.
“Physically? You know, I don’t really ask him a lot. I think that’s not something when I text him or talk to him, really what our conversations are about. I think when he tells you I’m only going to play four events and Augusta is one of them, he’s ready to go, it’s probably not going to be easy. But I think he’ll be fine.”
Woods made his return to professional golf a year ago at the Masters. He’d had to stop playing for a time because of devastating injuries he suffered in a car wreck.
“I think the leg – I guess this is what it is,” he said. “I don’t know how much better it’s ever going to get. If he can get better where he can play 12 times, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think he would tell me that. But he’s strong enough to hit it a mile. He’s not hitting it as far as Rory. I don’t think many people are. But he’s hitting it really strong and solid, and he looks good.”
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