THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996 TAG: 9609140539
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
DATELINE: GAINESVILLE, VA. LENGTH: 72 lines
Chum for a day. That was my choice, to spend Friday morning in the Shark's wake, because you don't get to follow Greg Norman around a golf course just any old time.
I hoped to see a performance worthy of the world's best player, the first PGA Tour player to take down $10 million in earnings. I wanted flamboyance, aggressiveness and great shotmaking.
And so I got it. For that, I thank Fred Couples.
Norman was O.K. and all, pretty consistent, and he made some nice shots and drilled a couple long putts. But in the marquee four-ball match that opened the Presidents Cup, Americans Couples and Davis Love III vs. Norman and Robert Allenby, Couples ran off with the honors on a strong day for the U.S.
Notorious for his outward cool, Couples was at times as hot as could be. Also, at times, he was all over the place off the tee. But he routinely found his way back with sparkling iron shots and a steady putter.
In 17 holes - Couples and Love clinched their victory and a team point by being two holes up with one left - Couples recorded seven birdies, high among the match's four players.
(An aside about those players, and the 20 others. There is awesome talent walking the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club's rolling hills, and a ridiculously small margin of error from top to bottom. The way tee shots rain down within 20 yards of each other more often than not, and nearly every putt, if missed, comes within a couple inches no matter the distance is humbling to behold.)
Couples, a 36-year-old who lives in Dallas, had no bogeys. Nor did Love for that matter. And Couples finished off the International tandem on 17 with a beautiful approach shot that hit at the crest of the sloped green and rolled back to within a few feet of the pin.
Couples never even had to putt out. After Allenby and he bogeyed, Norman conceded the birdie and the shaking of hands commenced.
``That was like a hit at the right time in a baseball game . . . all of a sudden somebody makes the right hit and the game breaks open,'' said U.S. captain Arnold Palmer, whose team rolled to victories in four of the five morning matches and leads 7 1/2 to 2 1/2 entering play today.
If Norman is a shark, Couples is a dolphin, riding the waves easily, seemingly unflappable. In the morning, it resulted in the more spectacular play. Even his aching back cooperated.
Couples, who has 12 career Tour victories and nine top-10 finishes this year, opened with two birdies. He went on to birdie four of the last five holes, including the last three, in a match that was even after 14.
Saving multiple pars in the middle, though, might have been his grand achievement.
On 7, Couples drove into the trees, but got a fortunate lie between trunks and escaped. On 8, he was in the sand but blasted out wonderfully. He missed fairways again on 11, 12 and 13 but worked magic with his irons.
In the afternoon's foursome round, in which the players alternated shots, Couples-Love and Norman-Allenby were matched up again. The Americans won that one, too, on the final hole when Allenby blew a 5-footer.
``I'm not exactly playing great golf,'' Couples said. ``In alternate shot, I put (Love) in some weird spots. I just cannot get the ball started where I'm looking. It's a difficult thing.
``Starting out the round and finishing it, I seem to do all right. It's when I'm a little bit loose and lazy . . . There were a lot of loose shots, but I'm good enough to play a few good holes in a row.''
Couples and Love were the perfect pair to tangle with Norman and what's-his-name. They have a long match-play history as a team, which includes four consecutive World Cup championships.
And while Norman is Norman, Australia's Allenby was 1-4 in the last Presidents Cup and has made the cut in just two of seven PGA events this year.
Yet International coach Peter Thomson, apparently in all seriousness, on Thursday referred to his duo as ``invincible.''.
``I can't imagine having Greg Norman on your team and not saying anything about I expect him to win,'' Couples said.
So Norman didn't. Freddie still made it a fine show. by CNB