FRED COUPLES FINISHED BIRDIE-BIRDIE on Sunday to win the Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, California, by a shot. Bernhard Langer missed a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th green that would have forced a playoff. Joining Langer in second place were Steve Pate and Colin Montgomerie, who fired a 62 on the final 18.
“I made some putts and when you do, you have a chance,” Boom Boom said after collecting his 10th Champions Tour title.
Couples calmly sank a pair of four-footers on 17 and 18 and then waited for Langer to finish. He called his up-and-down from behind the 18th green “kind of miraculous.”
Freddie shot rounds of 65, 67 and 66 for a 15-under total on the par-71 Newport Beach Country Club. He also won the Toshiba Classic in 2010, joining Hale Irwin as a two-time winner of the event. Irwin was the champion in 1998 and 2002.