Fred Couples Makes Masters History With Electric Opening Round At Augusta

Published•Updated

With his lone green jacket in the closet, Fred Couples may not be in the same conversation as the greatest Masters champions from a pure winning perspective, but that doesn't mean he isn't a certified legend around Augusta National.

Fred Couples is The Masters. He has this uncanny ability to ignore Father Time when he's inside the ropes of Augusta National, and he did exactly that during Thursday's opening round of the 2025 Masters.

SIGN UP for The Daily OutKick. New Look, Same Attitude.

The 65-year-old came into the week playing very solid golf on the PGA Tour Champions with three Top 15 finishes in four starts, and he carried that momentum down Magnolia Lane.

It never hurts to start your round with a little Texas wedge-style birdie, which is exactly what Couples did after missing the first green in an awkward spot, holing out from 50 feet.

The vibes are always immaculate when it comes to Couples and Augusta, and he rode those strong vibes out of the gates for the remainder of the day.

A bit of adversity shortly after making the turn on Thursday with bogeys on the Par 4 11th and Par 5 13th, but the Freddy magic popped up yet again, this time from 191 yards on the difficult Par 4 14th.

A perfectly weighted hybrid found the bottom of the cup for a two.

It does not get better than watching the smooth-swinging Freddie Couples plot his way around Augusta National.

He made four consecutive pars to close out his round at 1-under, which should put him firmly inside the Top 25 heading into Friday.

As for just how special Couples' round of 71 was on Thursday, well, it broke a record that Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson shared, which isn't too bad of company to be involved with, given their combined eight green jackets.

According to golf stat savant Justin Ray, Couples now owns the longest time in between first under par rounds of a Masters career and the most recent.

Couples will wake up on Friday morning well within striking distance of the top of the leaderboard in what is his 40th Masters start.

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets, including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016, when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.