Fred Couples posted four birdies at four of the last five holes to win the Houston Open on Sunday and end a five-year drought. A former world No. 1, Couples carded a five-under-par 67 en route to a 72-hole total of 21-under 267 and a four-stroke victory over playing partner Mark Calcavecchia, Hank Kuehne and Aussie Stuart Appleby.
After closing the tournament with a 10-foot birdie putt, Couples accepted congratulations from Calcavecchia, then broke down in tears while thanking his wife, Thais, and his coach, Butch Harmon. "I am always emotional when nice things happen to nice people," Couples later joked.
Couples had gone 87 starts without a victory, dating to the 1998 Memorial. He has 15 titles overall, including the 1984 and 1996 Players Championship and the 1992 Masters. "I haven't played really well in five years, and I worked hard on my game, and it meshed," he said. "And to win, it's a great bonus for (caddie) Joey and myself and my wife and his family, but I have a lot of people to thank."
Sunday's win was worth 810,000 dollars, which pushed Couples into the top 10 on the money list with more than 1.37 million dollars. He has not finished a season higher than 47th since 1998, when he was ninth.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
