University of Houston legend Fred Couples went into the 1992 Masters as the undisputed #1 player in the world. In the weeks leading up to Augusta, Couples won the LA Open, lost a playoff to Corey Pavin at the Honda Classic, and won the Nestle Invitational by nine shots.
Freddy was the clear favorite heading to Augusta. After nearly a decade of international players dominating the sport, the Couples-led American resurgence began in 1992. After Cougar legend Steve Elkington won the season-opening Tournament of Champions, Americans won every other tournament leading into the Masters.
Getting Into Contention
Couples started the tournament well, shooting 69 on day one, tied for 7th with fellow Coogs Elkington and Bruce Lietzke (and nine others). Freddy jumped to 3rd place after a 67 on Friday, just a shot back of the leaders.
That evening, CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz, who shared a UH dorm suite with Couples and was his teammate on Dave Williams’ squad, took the #1 player aside to give him some advice.
“Shoot your badge number twice more, and you’ll be wearing the jacket,” Nantz told him. Freddie’s Augusta-issued badge number was 70 for the week.
Couples shot 69 in the third round, which had to be completed Sunday morning due to a three-hour thunderstorm delay. Despite being -9, Couples still trailed Australian Craig Parry by a shot.
Couples found himself in contention at a major for the third time in a year: he finished T-3rd in the 1991 US Open and again in the The Open.
The Final Round
The final round did not start well for Freddie. He duck-hooked his drives on 1 and 2 into the trees, scrambling for an opening par before bogeying the relatively easy par-5 second hole. Meanwhile, Parry birdied #2 and led by three shots. Who could have guessed it would be his only birdie of the day?
Couples rebounded on the third hole – he hit a 9-iron to 8 inches for a tap-in birdie while Parry bogeyed the hole. Parry then bogeyed #4, and the two players were tied. Both bogeyed the fifth, and 49-year-old Ray Floyd made a birdie at the difficult par-3 6th. Suddenly, there was a three-way tie for the lead at -10.
Parry made an ugly bogey at the 7th while Couples and Floyd birdied the par-5 eighth hole. Freddy added another birdie on #9, a curling 18-footer, taking the lead by a shot heading to the back nine. Masters’ lore says the tournament doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday.
Floyd bogeyed 10 and 12, and Couples walked to the 12th tee leading by three shots.
Freddy at the 12th
The 12th hole at Augusta – nicknamed Golden Bell – is the signature hole at Augusta and perhaps the most iconic par-3 in the sport. The hole typically plays around 155 yards with an imposing tee shot through swirling winds over Rae’s Creek. A deep, U-shaped bunker sits in front, and two bunkers are behind the narrow green.
The traditional Sunday pin is front right and brings Rae’s Creek into play; any player who hits his ball onto the front fringe or below will watch it trickle back into the creek.
“The 12th hole has been a heartbreaker from the start. Its fickle winds, narrow green, and looming water have thwarted many runs for the Masters title.” – Masters.com
Caddy Joe LaCava gives Couples the yardage – 166 yards – just slightly off of what the CBS graphic says. Couples pulls his Lynx Parallax 7-iron, swings, and the ball goes right at the pin. With a 3-shot lead, that’s a mistake that Freddy acknowledged after the round.
I didn’t want to (go straight at the flag),” he said later, “but there’s this thing in my brain that just shoved the ball over there.”
His ball flew right at the flag but came up short. On the broadcast, announcer Verne Lundquist was in silent shock.
Miraculously, the ball didn’t roll back into the water. But for over a minute, no one watching at home knew that the ball had stayed up. Veteran broadcaster Ken Venturi, in his 35th year covering the Masters, said he’d never seen a ball stop there before.
So why did it stop? The Saturday thunderstorms left the usually slick embankment wet and muddy. As a result, the ball hit and trickled down the hill only about a foot.
Couples called it “the biggest break, probably, in my life.”
But he wasn’t in the clear yet. The next shot was difficult and one that no players had practiced. But cool as always, Couples chipped the ball to within 18 inches and escaped with par.
Up ahead, Ray Floyd birdied 14 and 15 to get within a shot. A group behind Floyd, Freddy faded a perfect 9-iron from 135 yards on 14. The ball took the slope to within 7 feet of the cup, and Couples poured the putt in for birdie.
Couples parred 15, 16, and 17 and went to 18 with a two-shot lead. There, his 3-wood found the first of two fairway bunkers. But Couples, as he had done so many times that day, hit a pure 7-iron to within 25 feet. Then, a perfect lag putt and a tap-in gave him his Green Jacket.
Floyd waited for him on the 18th Green, ready to congratulate his former Ryder Cup partner. Freddy gave him a big smile and a hug before signing his scorecard.
A Special Moment
Freddy was presented with his green jacket in Butler Cabin in a ceremony hosted by his UH teammate Nantz. Nantz has called that moment one of the highlights of his career.
“Fred, I don’t know. I may have been more nervous than you were on that back nine,” Nantz said. Nantz always got in his plug for UH, but it had even more meaning this time as he smiled at his Cougar buddy of 15 years.
Fred Couples won seven tournaments at UH, including the 1979 Southwest Conference Championships. He captained three winning Presidents Cup teams and was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013. But his most significant win came April 12, 1992, when he outdueled Ray Floyd to win at Augusta.