Champions Tour Insider: Big week for Captain Couples

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Fred Couples will lead the United States team in The Presidents Cup next week.

Sep. 30, 2009

International team competitions have left indelible impressions on Fred Couples, some good and some bad.

He first played in the Ryder Cup in 1989 at age 29 and at a stage in his career where many lessons remained to be learned.

At The Belfry that year, Couples discovered plenty about the unpredictable nature of match play at the highest levels. Couples was a budding star in 1989, a young golfer with vast untapped potential, when he went up against veteran Christy O'Connor Jr. It was O'Connor's fourth Ryder Cup on behalf of Europe, and it would be his last.

The long-hitting Couples was favored to win the match and when it went to the 18th hole at the Belfry, a dogleg left requiring distance off the tee, the advantage was squarely in Couples' corner. History tells us it didn't turn out that way. O'Connor, well behind Couples in the fairway and playing first, pulled off a glorious 2-iron approach shot and went on to win the match, 1-up. Couples lost and Europe retained the Ryder Cup.

"I took it extremely hard," Couples said. "Ray Floyd was our captain. I talked to him that night, felt like I lost my match to Christy O'Connor. I got out of it how important golf was to guys like Lanny Wadkins, Curtis Strange, Raymond and Tom Watson. It was a huge learning week for me. That was a big week for me."

Couples will apply that lesson and others as captain of the United States' Presidents Cup team for the Oct. 5-11 matches against the International squad at Harding Park.

Couples represented the United States five times at the Ryder Cup and on four occasions at the Presidents Cup (1994, 1996, 1998 and 2005). As a player, he had a 9-5-1 overall record at the Presidents Cup and an unbeaten 3-0-1 mark in Singles, which attests to the fact that that loss to O'Connor some years before provided keen insights going forward.

At the Ryder Cup, Couples finished 2-1-2 in singles, never losing again after his debut.

If Couples can impart his secret to success in singles to the 12 members of his team, the United States will be in excellent shape.

Couples, who will celebrate his 50th birthday the Saturday before The Presidents Cup and become eligible for the Champions Tour, expects to take a low-key approach to the task of being captain. What he doesn't want to do is burden his players with too much advice. Sometimes less is better.

"Well, the worst advice I've ever had (on team play), I'll never forget," Couples said. "I was practicing before my first Ryder Cup with Paul Marchand and Dick Harmon (his swing coaches). They were standing behind me telling me, 'This is the shot off the first tee, you're never going to be so nervous, you're never going to be this, you're never going to be that, you won't be able to breathe. It was like, 'Wow.'

"When I got there, obviously I understood what they were talking about. The best advice I ever got would probably have been on the 17th tee playing the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island with Ray Floyd."

That was in 1991, Couples' second Ryder Cup. He and his partner Floyd stood on the 17th tee, the daunting long par 3 that wrecked many a hope in that competition. It was Couples' turn to hit in the foursomes (alternate shot) format and, with the match so tight, everything was at stake.

The veteran Floyd's advice to the young Couples was simple and straightforward.

"Take a deep breath and smash it," Floyd told Couples. That's what he did.

"I hit a great 2-iron on that tough par 3," Couples said. "Everyone knows it's pressure-packed. The Presidents Cup, to be honest with you, is a little less pressure for a lot of reasons. I think the main reason is everyone plays. You play every day. You're not pushed into a corner because someone thinks you're playing poorly. You're involved."

Couples wants his team to feel a part of something grand and successful. And he wants to be a steadying influence and a captain who will be remembered for being easy to play for. He wants the burden on his shoulders, nobody else's.

"Jack Nicklaus was absolutely perfect as captain at the Presidents Cup," Couples said. "I think if we lose I will definitely take the blame. There is no way you can hand-pick any player (to blame). Basically, it's a team week. I'm not hitting a shot but I want to make sure these guys are ready to play and enjoy it."