Late bogeys take luster off another solid day for Couples at Augusta

Fred Couples hung tough on Friday, until bogeys on his final three holes dropped him down into the pack. He was especially disappointed to have missed so many birdie putts he thought he could've made.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Fred Couples came out of the small green scoring hut behind the 18th green in need of the nearest couch.

"As soon as I get home and lay down, I'll be fine," Couples said as he briefly chatted with reporters. "But right now I'm tired and (ticked) off, to be honest with you."

The 50-year-old had taken the lead into Friday’s second round of the 74th Masters Tournament. Couples was hanging tough, too, until bogeys on his final three holes produced a 75 that dropped him back into the pack at 3 under.

"I didn't finish," Couples said. "I played pretty well and then I bogeyed the last three holes. I don't want to say it was tough. It was cold and windy but there are some good scores. Not a whole lot of fun at the moment but that's the way it is."

Couples, who had won his last three starts on the Champions Tour, branded his score "very mediocre," but putting his signature on the scorecard had one silver lining. "I'm done," the 1992 Masters champ said.

"Yesterday was a great day. Today was not too good," he said. "... I didn't feel great today but I got it around."

The bogey train that brought him home was all the more disappointing since Couples had just birdied No. 15 to get back to even par for the day. But he missed a 6-footer for par at the 16th and a 5-footer at No. 17, then misclubbed on his approach at the 18 for the final bogey.

"I had birdie putts," Couples said with a shrug. "I didn't make any of them. You don't make 'em, every 20-footer, 15-footer that you look at."

Couples' chronically balky back was another issue on this April day that got off to an unusually cool and crisp start.

"For a while, I felt like I could go from first to last," Couples said. "But I kind of loosened up. But the shot on 9 really killed me. It was a downhill lie and those don't feel good on regular days and today that kind of threw me for a loop, but it's OK."