Champions Tour Insider: Why Couples is dominating

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

Fred Couples has won in his last three starts on the Champions Tour.

There is no mystery to Fred Couples' dominating performance on the Champions Tour. The numbers tell the story.

64. 63. 65. 62.

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There are others, to be sure, but it all starts with that foursome for Couples, who has won a record three straight Champions Tour events after opening his rookie account with a runner-up finish.

In four final rounds, Couples has averaged 63.5 strokes.

How do you beat that? Corey Pavin discovered at The Cap Cana Championship that you probably can't.

Pavin started the final round at Punta Espada Golf Club with a 2-shot lead, shot 66 -- and lost by 2.

"I did a lot of things that were very good," Pavin said. "Freddie just played great."

In 12 rounds on the Champions Tour, Couples hasn't posted a score higher than 68. Incredibly, he is now a cumulative 77-under-par following the 21-under 195 total at Cap Cana.

What's going on here?

Clearly, this isn't just about skill level and ball-striking, although that's a big part of it.

What's happening is that Couples has embraced the Champions Tour and everything about it.

His comfort zone has never been higher. His mind-set has never been more positive or his confidence level any higher. Ever.

For anyone to produce the kind of performances Couples has put together, all the stars must be aligned. Every time Couples tees it up on the Champions Tour, he expects to win. But perhaps the most important consideration is that he knows there is margin for error, however slight it may be, that doesn't exist when he tees it up on the PGA TOUR. His skill set and ball-striking give him that advantage.

The final-round 62 at Cap Cana matched Couples' best ever, a score he first achieved at Riviera Country Club 20 years ago. The Cap Cana round included five straight birdies on the back.

"The scoring is unbelievable," Couples said. "I shot 64 in the final round (in Hawaii) and lost to Watson. Then in winning shot 63, 65 and 62. If I shot a great 65 (at Cap Cana), I would have lost. That's what it takes."

The winning score in all four Champions Tour events this year has been below 200. Couples has posted 195 three times, and 199 once.

"The wins are very exciting," he said. "I must say that personally I have never played like this. I hit the ball very well and made a lot of putts. That was a great stretch in '92 (when he won the Masters). These four weeks I've played on the Champions Tour, I'm not missing many shots.

"I just feel very good with my swing."

Couples will return to the Champions Tour at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf after two weeks on the PGA TOUR. He's playing the Shell Houston Open this week and then the Masters.

Can he win at Augusta National Golf Club?

"Can I win?" Couples said. "If I get comfortable and start to putt out there like I do right here, I can still play with those guys.

"It's a little bit of a stress thing. Here I believe I should be near the lead when I play. On the regular tour I just put a little too much pressure on myself. Augusta is one I'm definitely looking forward to."

A word about his putting: Couples is averaging 27.44 putts a round, third on the Champions Tour, and is second in putts per green with 1.624.

Couples became the first Champions Tour player to win three of his first four starts and became the first player since Jay Haas in 2006 to win three straight tournaments. Chi Chi Rodriguez, in 1987, is the only player to win four straight on the Champions Tour.

Champions Tour Insider notes:

• Twenty golfers posted scores under 70 in the final round at Cap Cana, with the overall scoring average for the field at 71.748.

• Trevor Dodds finished T17 in his Champions Tour debut. Dodds won the 1998 Greater Greensboro Open on the PGA TOUR and three Nationwide Tour events.

• David Peoples recorded his second top-10 finish is as many starts. Peoples made his debut at the Toshiba Classic and finished T9 in Newport Beach. His ninth-place at Cap Cana guaranteed him a spot in the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic.

• Defending champion Keith Fergus finished T17 at the Cap Cana Championship.

• Mark McNulty will undergo right knee replacement surgery and is out for the remainder of 2010.

• Couples' tee shot in a pre-tournament charity exhibition raised $22,000 to benefit the Fundacion AR Infancia Sin Fronteras. In the par 3 contest, Couples hit a 7-iron to within 31 inches of the cup in the six-man competition. "The best shot I've hit all year," Couples said.

• Nick Price leaves April 1 for a 10-day vacation with his family to tour Egypt. Price, wife Sue, and daughters Robyn and Kimberly will cruise on the Nile River and visit the Pyramids.

• Hale Irwin's personalized TaylorMade golf balls have the number "45" stamped on them. That's how many Champions Tour events he has won.

• Ronnie Black's streak of 147 holes without a three-putt ended at the eighth hole of the first round at Cap Cana. "In a way I was almost relieved to end the streak," Black said. "I've got to admit it was getting in my head."