Fred Couples Looks Cool Sitting in a Bunker

Fred Couples bunkered.

IF ARNOLD PALMER IS GOLF’S king, then Fred Couples is golf’s king of cool. I mean, seriously, does Freddie look like anything would ever bother him? (Including Greg Norman’s jabs about Freddie’s Tiger Woods pick for the U.S. Presidents Cup team.)

What other 50-something could pull off the black ECCOs with melon-colored shoelaces and sitting cross-legged in an Adirondack chair in the middle of a sand bunker?

Couples has been busy. He shot 65, 62 and 66 for a 23-under total and a seven-shot win at the AT&T Championship.

Then, as others have reported, Couples fired back at Norman, who had taken aim at the U.S. Presidents Cup captain, saying, “I can understand the name of a Tiger Woods and his history of what he’s done on the golf course. But I pick the guys who I think are ready to get in there and play and have performed to the highest levels leading up to it.”

Couples was asked about Norman’s comments and took the bait, saying, “Robert Allenby [one of Norman’s captain’s picks] hasn’t won a tournament in 10 years.” Actually, Allenby has won as recently as 2009, just not on the PGA Tour. Whether intentional or not, Norman and Couples are drumming up some interest for the event, although maybe not much. The Presidents Cup only matters to the most diehard golf fans.

Let’s face it, Keegan Bradley deserves a spot on the team. He’s the only American who is a major champion at the moment. He has won twice this season and just bagged the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda. But it’s not really about who is playing the best right now, is it?

There are reasons for picking Tiger Woods that have nothing to do with his golf game. The kind that make Tim Finchem smile.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: ECCO)