Mission Accomplished. After the second round, Fred Couples said "whoever wins I would believe is going to shoot 63 or 64 on Saturday or Sunday." "I would like to shoot that," said Couples. During the first few holes though, "I started out like I was going to shoot 78," said Couples. "We were getting ready for the Stars game (tonight) on the third tee."

The day started with Couples uncharacteristically tight. "I went up to the first hole and froze. I hooked a two-iron in the junk and made bogey." "Freddie acted really funny before he played. He is always really loose and he seemed a little distant to start off," said Sutton.

After missing long birdie attempts on holes two and three, Couples hooked his tee shot into the trees on the forth hole, missing the bunkers but avoiding the water and possible double bogey. His round then took a dramatic turn. Trailing Frazar by four, Couples rolled in a thirty-foot putt on the par-three fifth hole that just slid in. "It was like, pop, it went in, and all of a sudden I started hitting better." "I started hitting the ball pretty much where I was looking."

On the sixth hole, Couples hit a sand wedge to within five feet and made the birdie putt. After a long drive, Couples launched a six-iron that fell into the bunker guarding the front of the green on the par-five seventh hole. After a splendid blast to about a foot, Couples again birdied. On the par-four eighth hole, his drive found the right rough but he hit an eight-iron to twelve feet and made it.

The birdie streak ended after hitting a six-iron approach down the hill on the right side of the green. He missed the putt after chipping to eight feet. The putter then heated up on the back nine.

"I think I'm a very good putter," said Couples. "I flinch at a lot of short putts. I miss them. Sometimes I stroke them very well and they don't go in, but basically, I don't go out there and worry about my putting. I just go out there and play." "When putting well the hole doesn't get any bigger - it just gets in the way of good putts."

On the par-four tenth hole, Couples hit a six-iron to thirty feet and then rolled in the birdie putt that died in the cup. Another birdie followed on the eleventh after a wedge to within ten feet. After making par on the twelfth, Couples saved par on the thirteenth, after landing in the front bunker.

The par-four fourteenth, the course's most difficult hole, provided little opposition. Couples hit a nine-iron to about 8 feet right of the pin and sank the birdie putt to take over the lead at 11-under. Another nice iron shot left Couples with a four-foot birdie putt on the fifteenth hole but he missed as the putt slid below the hole.

At the par-five sixteenth hole, Couples blasted a drive down the right side of the fairway, then launched a three-iron from 215 yards that landed fifteen feet from the hole. He proceeded to ram in the eagle putt to move to thirteen under par.

A five-iron on the par-three seventeenth hole landed on the right side of the green, forty feet from the hole. Couples sank his longest birdie putt of the day as the large enthusiastic gallery exploded. Couples concluded his round of 63 by making par on the final hole, missing a tough breaking putt from about twenty feet.

"I was a little more inconsistent off the tee. Once I got things going, it just seemed easy to make putts, which happens to me maybe ten times a year," said Couples. "Today was just one of those days."

The round of 63 was the second lowest Couples has had on Tour. Putting together his best season in recent years, Couples credits "being very happy" as a reason. Overcoming the loss of his parents, and the troubles his girlfriend faces, the rest of his life has become easier. "I think golf is not dictating my life," Couples said. "I feel good about everything I do," he continued. "Today was a lot of fun. A lot of times I play well and I don't really enjoy it. That's in the past."

"I thought yesterday somebody would have a good round, and I'm glad it was me. So now I have got to basically worry about coming out tomorrow and playing strong and as best I can," Couples said. "I can't say I am going to play aggressive. I'm just going to play."

Just playing the game and enjoying his round. With a fresh prospective, Couples seeks to capture the GTE Byron Nelson Classic and continue to build on his success in 1998.

Don Dowell is the Editor/Publisher of Golf in the SouthWest
(May 16, 1998)©