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Editor's Note: This is the eighth in a series of 12 vignettes about memorable moments in the history of THE PLAYERS Championship. The 2007 event will be played May 10-13 on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

As the tense, final holes of the 1996 PLAYERS Championship approached, Fred Couples was his usual, cool self. Until the par-5 16th hole.

Fred Couples ended a long victory drought in 1996 at THE PLAYERS. (WireImage)

That's when Couples stirred the crowd with a fast finish and captured his second PLAYERS title. His second shot with a 2-iron on the 16th landed near the water's edge and bounced onto the fringe of the green. From there, Couples rolled in a 30-foot eagle putt.

He raised his putter in the air with his left hand as the ball neared the hole, stretched his right arm upward for a fist pump as the ball rolled in and the gallery went crazy. The eagle propelled Couples from one shot behind to one ahead of Colin Montgomerie and Tommy Tolles.

"You didn't have to tell me who holed or what it was for," said Montgomerie, who was walking to the 16th tee. "It was loud enough. Honestly, I thought someone made a one on 17. I thought someone had holed it."

Tolles responded with a bogey on the par-4 15th and Montgomerie's approach to the green on No. 16 found the water and he made bogey. Couples cemented his victory at the same time with another crowd-inciting 30-footer for birdie on the par-3 17th. Couples cruised home with a par on 18 for a final-round, 8-under-par 64 and a three-stroke win.

The victory ended a 19-month victory drought, caused by continuing back problems which limited his practice time.

"It was perfect timing," Couples said. "I really think I am back, and I think I am slowly proving to myself that if I feel good, I can beat everybody."