By Brian Wacker, PGAOTUR.COM

BETHESDA, Md. -- Davis Love III confirmed on Wednesday perhaps the worst-kept secret in golf: That Fred Couples will be one of his assistant captains at the Ryder Cup Sept. 28-30 at Medinah Country Club.

Joining Couples as an assistant is Mike Hulbert.

“I've talked to Fred a lot since he's done so well the last couple years with the Presidents Cup team,” said Love, who has yet to name his other assistants. “I talked to him a lot, gotten a lot of advice from him, been surprised at his level of detail and his commitment to the Presidents Cup. And I know that's why the guys are lobbying for him to do it over and over again, because he really has put a lot into it.”

Couples has captained the last two Presidents Cup teams -- and is the captain for 2013, too -- and led the U.S. to victory both times.

“People see Freddie, he makes it look so easy and he's got this nice swing and he's always smiling and waving,” Love continued. “But what's going on in his head, I think, is completely different. He really has a lot of pride in his game. It doesn't show, but he tries very, very hard.”

As for Hulbert, he came with a pretty impressive recommendation of sorts.

One of the first calls Love received after he was named captain was from Curtis Strange, who told love that Hulbert was “the best assistant captain in the history of the Ryder Cup.”

Hulbert was an assistant captain under Strange in 2002. He has also long been one of Love’s closest friends, even before Love played his first round on the PGA TOUR as an amateur and was paired with Hulbert.

“He knows a lot of guys out here and a lot of guys know him,” Love said. “He's one of those kind of the favorite hang guys around the TOUR.”

As for Couples’ other two assistants?

”Those two were my natural choices,” Love said. “My next two are going to be harder.”

Fred Couples and Nick Price will serve as captains of the U.S. and International Teams, respectively, for the 2013 Presidents Cup 2013 at Muirfield Village. Price will be a Captain for the first time, while Couples will lead the Americans for the third time.

You thoughts? Will Price be able to lead the Internationals to victory? Will Couples continue to enjoy success? Leave your comments below.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Two-time PLAYERS champion Fred Couples has withdrawn from this year’s event due to an illness.

Couples, who had the flu and withdrew last week from the Insperity Championship on the Champions Tour, as well, gained a spot in the PGA TOUR’s signature event by winning the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship last year.

Couples, who won his seventh Championship Tour event earlier this year, is the 1984 and 1996 winner of THE PLAYERS. He was not replaced in the field because the Constellation Energy Senior Players winner doesn’t count against the 144-man field.

PGA TOUR rookie Brian Harman remains the first alternate.

The pairings have been unveiled for this week’s PGA TOUR Matchups Game on Facebook. You can check out the Matchups for the THE PLAYERS Championship below, or on the PGA TOUR’s Facebook page.

Participants have until 6 a.m. ET Thursday to make their picks. Log on to the PGA TOUR Facebook page and click the Matchups link to make your picks for this week, or to sign up.

GO TO FACEBOOK PAGE TO PLAY MATCHUPS GAME

Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson	In dozens of starts, have just one PLAYERS win each
Rory McIlroy vs. Rickie Fowler	Rematch of last week's epic playoff at Wells Fargo
K.J. Choi vs. Sergio Garcia	Two former champs each won title in a playoff
Hunter Mahan vs. Ben Crane	Close friends both have game for TPC Sawgrass
Vijay Singh vs. Davis Love III	Love III has two titles here. Singh looking for first.

Tuesday, May 8 Rory McIlroy: 10 a.m. ET Tiger Woods: 2 p.m. ET K.J. Choi: 2:45 p.m. ET Phil Mickelson: 3 p.m. ET Hunter Mahan: 3:30 p.m. ET Rickie Fowler: 4 p.m. ET Wednesday, May 9 Luke Donald, 9 a.m. ET David Toms, 1 p.m. ET PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem, 2:30 p.m. ET Davis Love III, TBD  

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM correspondent AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Can a 52 year old win a major? A flat-belly major. Since inquiring minds around the globe want to know, we sought out Hale Irwin on the lawn on this sun-splashed Saturday afternoon  to get his thoughts. He said yes. Heading into the weekend, Couples,  has a chance to become the oldest player -- at 52 -- to win a major and the fifth player to win majors 11 years apart. "I played my best golf at 52,'' said Irwin, who was relaxing with wife Sally. "I feel it can be done. He's playing enough golf on the regular tour to keep his mind in this mentality (PGA TOUR).'' Couples shared the second-round lead with Jason Dufner, but started the third round bogey-bogey to fall three shots behind Dufner. Couples won the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic on the Champions Tour two weeks ago, then opened with a 67 the Shell Houston Open -- a tournament he won in 2003. A rain-delayed 33 holes on Friday wore him out, but he made the cut and finished T-47. He finished fourth there in 2008 at 48 and was T-3 there in 2009 at 49. In fact, he had four top-10 finishes at age 49. Irwin won 10 times on the Champions Tour when he was 52 (1997) and and seven times at 53. He's one of four players -- Julius Boros, Ben Crenshaw and Henry Cotton are the others -- who won majors 11 years apart. Crenshaw's came here -- in 1994, then again in 1995. Irwin's were U.S. Opens -- in 1979 and 1990. Irwin watched Couples on the putting green more than an hour before his tee time. "I don't know how his back's doing, but he knows the course,'' he said. "But everyone's going to be looking at him wondering if he can win.''

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The last time Fred Couples won the Masters was in 1992. He was 32 years old at the time, and created one of Augusta National’s most iconic images when his tee shot miraculously stuck on the slick bank in front of the 12th green.

So if he were to win on Sunday, how would Couples’ victory drought between majors stack up in history? Well, it would be the longest -- by nine years. Here’s a list of the previous longest:

 

Player	Drought	Events
Henry Cotton	11 years	1937 British Open and 1948 British Open
Julius Boros	11 years	1952 U.S. Open and 1963 U.S. Open
Ben Crenshaw	11 years	1984 Masters and 1995 Masters
Hale Irwin	11 years	1979 U.S. Open and 1990 U.S. Open

Couples, who won his seventh Champions Tour event two weeks ago, wouldn’t own the record between TOUR wins, though. That would still belong to Ray Floyd – although Couples (at 28 years, 10 months and 3 days) could sneak ahead of Sam Snead if he were to win Sunday.

.

Player	Duration	Events/dates
Ray Floyd	28 years, 11 months, 20 days	1963 St. Petersburg Open and 1992 Doral-Ryder Open
Sam Snead	28 years, 6 months, 17 days	1936 West Virginia Closed Pro-Am and 1965 Greater Greensboro Open

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Two decades after he won his only Green Jacket, the ageless Fred Couples is tied with Jason Dufner at the top of the leaderboard of another Masters. Couples fired a 67, which was the day's low round, while Dufner shot a 70. The two are 5 under and have a one-stroke advantage over 2009 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and reigning U.S. Open champ Rory McIlroy, as well as three of the best players never to have won a major in world No. 3 Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Bubba Watson. It's a logjam, though -- a total of 30 players will start the second round within five strokes of the lead. Among those is three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson,, who worked his way back into the mix with a 68 Friday that left him 2 under for the tournament. The cut came at 5 over and included 63 players. That's the largest total since 1992 when, you guessed it, Couples won his Masters by two strokes over Raymond Floyd. The 52-year-old Couples, who captained the last two victorious Presidents Cup teams, is playing in his 28th Masters. He finished sixth in 2010 and tied for 15th a year ago. He's trying to join Sam Snead and Raymond Floyd as the only players to win on the PGA TOUR in four different decades. "It was a great day today, and I worked my way up the leaderboard," said Couples, who won his seventh Champions Tour event two weeks ago.  "...   So for me it's nice to be in the mix.  This course brings out great players. "I consider myself to be a little past where I feel really comfortable with leading a major at the time. ... But I look forward to tomorrow, and we'll see what happens." Tiger Woods made the cut but it wasn't pretty as he posted a 75 in which he failed to birdie or eagle one of Augusta National's par 5s for just the third time in his pro career. World No. 1 Luke Donald struggled to a 73 and is one stroke behind Woods at 4 over.

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM HUMBLE , Texas – Phil Mickelson called it a fun round. Well,  a fun 15 holes that completed his weather-delayed first round, anyway. Much better than the first three holes he played Thursday before severe thunderstorms rolled through the area and suspended play. Mickelson made a ton of putts and survived one ugly mud ball at the 13 ^th to open defense of his 2011 SHO title with a 7-under 65 – the exact number he shot in the final round 52 weeks ago to win here at Redstone. “The course is in immaculate shape,’’ said Mickleson, who won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am earlier this year. “We had great conditions today without the wind, and the golf course was soft and so you could get at a lot of pins, lot of the tucked pins you could get at. Played aggressively today. ‘’ So were playing partners Fred Couples, who shot a 67, and defending Masters champ Charl Schwartzel, who shot 69. Mickelson’s only oops on the card? A bogey at 13 from that mudball. "I played really well,’’ he said. “I swung it well and, you know, there's not much you can do about stuff like that. Every shot in the fairway had a bunch of mud on it. It was tough maneuvering around there.’’ But, he added, “if you could get it on the surface, you felt like could you make some putts.” Mickelson headed off to grab a quick bite to eat before heading to the 10 ^th tee to start his second round. And, no, 33 holes in a day isn’t too much. In Mickel-land, it works. “I like being able to come out and play a lot of holes in one day because if you start playing well, you get in a good rhythm, you can really make a lot of birdies, especially out here,’’ he said. “It might be a benefit to play 33 holes today." “I feel I’ve been playing well and I can get a good rhythm going for the day.’’