FRED COUPLES is having a field day on the US Champions Tour with his third straight win in his rookie season.
The 50 year old set a course record 10 under par 62 to win the Cap Cana Championship in the Dominican Republic.
His total 21 under two stroke win made him the first player in Champions Tour history to win three of his first four tournaments.
In four three round senior tournaments Couples hasn’t had a score higher than 68 and is 77 under par.
Couples is the eighth Champions Tour player to win three straight starts, leaving him one behind the tour record set by Chi Chi Rodriguez in 1987.
He has also pocketed $1,027,821 for his trouble – and some of the older guys reckon the Champions Tour is a licence to print money.
Couples made 11 birdies in the final round, finishing with a total of 195. “It was an unbelievable day,” said Couples, who made five birdies in a row from the second through sixth hole.
“The first six or seven holes, there was an eagle, birdies and putts going in from everywhere, ” he said, including the work of second placegetter Corey Pavin.
The string of wins had Couples looking back to the early 1990’s – and probably to Augusta in two weeks time, when the strength of his good form will be put to the ultimate test.
“I had a great stretch of golf in 1992,” he said, referring to a two month period when he won three tournaments including the Masters. “But I must say that these four weeks on the Champions Tour I’m not missing many shots.”
Peter Senior doing nicely
Not quite reaching Couples’ heights but still trotting along nicely in his rookie Champions Tour season is Australian Peter Senior, who had his fourth straight top 30 finish.
After an opening 74 Senior posted improved rounds of 68 and 69 to finish at T23.
With AUD $102,287 in Champions Tour winnings, Senior is 27th on the Money List.