Fred Couples makes his 38th Masters appearance this week and he may have a little awkwardness after recent public comments calling fellow Masters champions Phil Mickelson a “nutbag” and Sergio Garcia a “clown.”
Couples has downplayed the insults, saying they’re nothing that he hasn’t called himself before, and is expecting a great evening at Tuesday’s Champions Dinner. Despite saying that LIV Golf and its players don’t bother him, the 1992 Masters champion has reiterated that it’s the bashing of the PGA Tour that gets on his nerves.
“You know, I’m not expecting anything different,” Couples said of the Champions Dinner. “I sit in a great spot, so I’m down by all the beautiful people that I’ve sat with, and it’s not that the other ones aren’t, but I’m saying Nicklaus, Tiger, Floyd, myself, Sandy Lyle, and then right to the head of the table.
“So for 20 years almost Raymond has told me where to sit and how to do it, and I’m not near a whole lot of people.
“I’ve made comments, but they need to understand if they’ve looked at anything I’ve ever said, I call myself the same stuff I’m calling them, I just don’t think they should bash the PGA Tour or anybody, just go play golf.
“Tomorrow night will be a great dinner, will be a lot of fun, and people have asked me are you going to get paired, I’m like, I would love to be paired with Phil. I mean, he’s one of the best players that ever played. He loves this place as much as I do, and if we did, we’d look at each other on the first hole and we’d have a good time.”
Both Garcia and Mickelson will be at the Champions Dinner where Couples should get the chance to speak to both of them for the first time since his public comments hit the headlines.
“If one wants to stop and ask why I’m picking on them, then I’m all for it, but I don’t really think I’ve done anything horrific,” he said. “They’re making comments and I’m replying to them. That’s it.”
Couples played with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy on Monday at Augusta National
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The former World No.1, who will look to make the cut at Augusta National for the first time since 2018 this week, thinks that The Masters made the correct decision in allowing LIV players – of which there are 18 in the field this week – to compete.
“Was I in agreement with that? Yeah, I think they deserve to be here, the ones that have won and other – I don’t know how many that didn’t win have qualified from either prior tournaments or from the Money List, and Bryson has won a…
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