By Stephanie Wei
In three starts on the 50-plus tour, Fred Couples has two straight wins. Firing a final round six-under 65, he breezed his way to victory by four strokes at the Toshiba Classic.
Freddie's scoring average on the Champions Tour is 65.67 and hasn't carded anything over a 68 all season. In the event he didn't win, he placed second. Also in the two tournaments he's played on the PGA Tour, he finished T14 at the Waste Management Open and T37 at the Northern Trust Open. Impressive for, you know, an old guy.
And look out—there are a few others on the senior tour who can still compete with the young guys, like Tom Lehman and Tom Watson who finished T3 and T5, respectively. The 60-year-old Watson shot 62 on Sunday and we all remember what he did at Turnberry last year (let's hope he gets that US Open exemption, too!). Lehman has placed T14 and T16 in two starts on the PGA Tour—Phil Mickelson also has two top-20 finishes.
When was the last time it was so much fun to watch a bunch of old dudes hobble around the course? Probably not since the days when Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Chi Chi Rodriguez dominated in the early 90s.
What's more interesting is that Couples, Lehman and Watson could potentially win on the big boys tour this year, too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last player to win after his Champions Tour debut was Fred Funk in the 2007 Mayakoba Golf Classic.
I put my money on Couples to be the next.