MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2026

Fred Couples

Quick Quotes

Q. Freddy, obviously wasn't the ending you were hoping for there. Wondering if you had any good takeaways from today.

FRED COUPLES: Not really, no. But I was cruising along and making a few putts when I needed to. Then I actually had a perfect yardage and I had seen a couple other guys, not in my group, but skip it over that green. I just felt like, you know, it was a shot I can handle.

I just kind of skinned it off the downhill lie and didn't carry far enough. Then I did the same thing. Then on 16 I tried to regroup and just hit it down in the flat where the ball is going to roll anyway and I pulled it and hit in the bank and went in the water.

Then it just came -- all the gas was gone. It was kind of a sour game, but it was fun. I enjoyed playing with Min Woo. I've watched him a lot. And Fifa, I've never met but watched him and learned a little bit about him. He's a really good player. Hits it a 100 miles; both of them do.

Tomorrow just have to go do the same thing but maybe not finish 10-over par on two holes or whatever the hell I did.

Q. When you were back on 13 you had a nice birdie on that hole. Seemed like you were feeling...

FRED COUPLES: Well, I birdied two. I'm going to lay up on ever par-5. I can't reach any of them. I laid up perfect. I had 90 yards so I had to carry it 85 and 5. Sometimes when you don't try and hit a good shot you forget what the hell you're doing. I have no excuse. I just didn't hit them far enough.

I've played I don't know how many rounds, I've never done that, hit it in the water going for the green. Never hit a 90-yard shot in the water and then followed up with another one. I've played 41 years here. I've never done that.

It was kind of like a shot I can handle, but I wasn't even trying to handle it. I was just trying to hit it 30 feet right. No one is going to hit it in there five feet I don't think. The greens are like concrete. The course was really, really good.

The winds died so I would imagine some of the guys with a few holes to go might make another birdie or two. It was challenging with the wind blowing, I'll say that.

Q. How do you reset on the 18th there? You made a really nice putt.

FRED COUPLES: Well, I didn't really reset. I just kept hitting the ball and the ball got in the way and went well.

But don't think that was for a birdie. I was underneath the tree so I chipped out and made a good par. You know, there was not much resetting. It was all -- any time you go -- what did I do? I went nine, five, quad, double, double. There not much regrouping from that.

Q. How much better is this course when it's fast and firm?

FRED COUPLES: Well, it's fun. It's very fun. It's fun at all times. It's challenging at all times. But it's getting really, really firm. I don't know what they'll do tonight. I know I have an early morning tee time tomorrow so that might help me stop a ball on the green. I still have to hit it, like I did the first 13 or 14 holes. It's really rock hard.

Again, it's Augusta National. It's supposed to be like that. The wind makes it challenging because you can't really realize how far you're going to hit it. For me. They're hitting 9-irons and wedges so it's not as hard.

You fly it a little far, goes over the green. Fly it a little short, you come up short and the chipping is hard. For the really good players I think they want it like this. I know the Jon Rahms and Schefflers and Spieths and Rorys. And by the way, Rory may never lose this thing again after last year. I said that on about the 12th hole to my caddie.

Then he birdied I think a couple coming in. You know, he's really good. He hits it so solid. Scheffler. But I enjoyed it. It stinks to finish that way. I can't he have explain it. I'm a little numb because I was cruising along.

And I can get it up and down. I'm not the greatest chipper but around here I know what I'm doing. Wow, a nine. That's not real fun.

Q. First, I want to first recognize that you're standing here answering out questions after a round like that, and is this something you've always done in your career?

FRED COUPLES: No, no. I do it at Augusta. I love this place. No matter what I shoot, I try. I get very frustrated. Because I -- at any age you still want to hit shots. You know, it happens. I'm not going to run -- if I was 35 and did that I would be going bananas on everybody. You, you, you. And I would've ran right by and you told you to get out of my life.

It really was a fun day. Like I said, I've watched Min Woo. He didn't play well either. Maybe tomorrow he'll shoot 68 or 69. I like the way he plays so it was fun to play with him.

Q. A lot of the amateurs had a little bit of struggles today and had high hopes for their first Masters. It can happen to anyone.

FRED COUPLES: Well, I mean, this is not your course you just want to jump in there on a day like today and say, I'm a top amateur player. I don't know what they shot. We have four, five guys that are pretty smart and they'll tell me how everyone did.

But it's challenging. It's really challenging. You have to know how to maneuver the ball around the course. Just because you're a good amateur and hit it 330 yards you still have to do some things.

Fifa looked back, he made a lot of little mistakes that cost him bogeys. You know, they were with mediocre irons. You're trying so hard to maybe do things that aren't really humanly possible. Once you get 4-over, 5-over, then you start pressing.

But the amateurs are great. They play well. This is just -- you can get out of sorts here as an amateur and not really -- you're playing with the top players, right? You kind of think you're in their way and then you get going, and the next thing you know you shoot 77 and you go back to your house or hotel and you say, I could have shot 75 that.

Happens to everybody. And they really can.

But I'll end with this: My first Masters I played in I shot 73, 68, which was fantastic. I got paired with Tom Watson and I shot 80. It wasn't because the situation I was in. I couldn't keep up with him. I'd been on TOUR for three years but if you ever watched Tom play 40 years ago, he basically runs. I was bogeying holes and didn't want to get in his way and my score became irrelevant.

I think that happens at all acts life, whether you're an amateur or a young player. You just feel uncomfortable and can't turn it around on a course like this.