Masters 2025: Fred Couples, 65, opens in red and admits he didn’t know this key Augusta rule

AUGUSTA, Ga. — A miracle putt here, a hole-out for eagle there, hybrids everywhere. Sixty-five-year-old Fred Couples had himself a day Thursday at the Masters, the kind that leads him to believe he still has enough golf in the tank to keep playing for a few more years—if he can stay relatively healthy.

He was beginning to have his doubts.

No one but six-time champion Jack Nicklaus has made more cuts at Augusta National Golf Club than the 31 times that Couples has advanced to the weekend, and the 1992 champion has a chance to break his own record as the oldest player to make the cut after opening with a one-under 71. Couples joined two-time Masters champion Tom Watson as the only other 65-year-old to break par at Augusta.

The performance on the sun-baked layout marked just his fourth sub-par score in the last 10 years. Two years ago, at age 63, Couples also opened with a 71 on the way to a four-round tour of his favorite course, a place he calls “paradise.” Now he has a chance to better his record, if not further validate his place in the field.

“Today is a hell of a round. I am exhausted,” Couples, wearing a wide smile and silver sideburns protruding from underneath his hat. “You know, I played pretty well. I did hole a shot and really undercut a shot on 13 and made a great [bogey] 6, which is a big boost. I hit most of the fairways and drove it well. Got a little windy and chipped a little bit better than I normally do around here. I just piddled around. You know, hit a lot of good woods. Tomorrow may be different. May be different shots. But it was fun. It was very fun day.”

Into the hole from 191 yards. Fred Couples eagles No. 14! #themasters pic.twitter.com/5KD2bMUKv6

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2025

The shot of the day was one he didn’t see. A 6-hybrid from 186 yards found its way over the false front at the par-4 14th hole and curved into the cup for his first eagle at the hole in his 141st Masters round. He hadn’t made a birdie there since the final round in 2014.

“When I hit it, it was hit really, really well, and it did just carry that ridge where Harris [English] didn’t and spun back. I thought I had enough to get over there and then they [fans] went crazy.”

The shot he wanted to talk about was his third of the day. Couples found a place left of the first green where he didn’t want to be and couldn’t believe that he had found. This was not how he preferred to begin his 41st Masters.

One of only 15 men to play in this major at least 40 times, Couples literally was posing over the approach shot. With a hybrid, of course. He only carries four irons in his bag: 7, 8, 9 and wedge. “I have a lot of headcovers,” he joked.

“I hit two really, really good shots on 1. I don’t know if anyone saw it. Flew right by the hole and trickled and trickled down the embankment down where you don’t want to ever be left,” he said. “I’m going, ‘OK, here we go. What am I going to make from here?’ I holed it.”

When the 48-foot putt went in, he turned to the gallery and fist-pumped a few of the spectators nearby.

Fred Couples started his first round off right. #themasters pic.twitter.com/0bl2M4tYV2

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2025

A year ago, the former World No. 1 gutted out two rounds after undergoing a series of cortisone shots. He was far from fit, and it showed. That’s how much he loves the place. It got him thinking about how much longer he might compete. Though Masters champions have a “lifetime” exemption, Couples was under the impression that an age limit of 65 had been set.

The story goes that a discussion with Steve Ethun, the Masters Chief Tournament Officer, alleviated his concerns about possibly embarrassing himself or the club. But it was Lynn Roach, Couples’ agent, who spoke to Ethun.

“I was at Bridgestone thing and Lynn said, ‘I talked to Steve. This is not your last year,’” Couples explained. “I said, ‘Well, I thought at 65 … I don’t want to be a clown. … The other day I said clown and don’t want to use the word clown around Augusta.

“But I can play golf. I can play around here. If the weather is like this and not hard, as long as I don’t do crazy things, I can shoot 73 or 4 or 5. That’s not embarrassing myself at all. … If I do that and come back with 70 or 71 tomorrow, the goal for me is to make the cut. Same with [Bernhard] Langer. Any other ancient guys? [Angel] Cabrera. That’s really our goal.”

Which leads to the question of just how much longer Couples will grace the field. He couldn’t predict. He didn’t want to speculate. It’s all about score, not age.

“That’s a great question. I can’t answer that. I really can’t,” said the man once nicknamed “Boom Boom” for his powerful swing. “It will be when I know that I can’t tee off on No. 1 and do really good things and shoot a nice score. … It just depends how I’m playing. It’s not how old I am because, I’ll tell you, I hit a few drives today that were pretty good. Made the holes play easier for me. Not for anyone else, for my game.

“So I can get it around. I’m not even going to guess. Might be next year, might be 70.”

For now, though, Couples still is able to prove he belongs. And that’s the beauty of the Masters and of a popular player who knows his place—and this place—and is determined to keep coming back.