Editor's note: Fred Couples narrowly missed the 2025 Masters cut by two strokes with a second-round 77.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta National Golf Club has a way of making us all feel young. Patrons step on the ground for the first time and revert to a child-like state of wonderment, floating around a property that’s as close to Disney World as it gets for golfers.

Players make annual scouting trips in the weeks leading up to the Masters Tournament for “strategy sessions” that are as much an excuse to nerd out, embrace their inner kid and experience a few more rounds at one of the greatest golf courses in the world.

But nobody taps into their youth quite like Fred Couples at Augusta National. Couples, 65, has plenty of aches and pains that keep him from preparing like he used to. His practice regimen ahead of this year’s Masters was a handful of wedge swings at the range and a dozen-or-so hybrids into a simulator in the basement of his home. He didn’t want to wear himself out.

Nothing about Couples’ current form or feeling seems to matter when he steps on the property, though. Thursday’s first round was the latest evidence.

Couples shot 1-under 71 to open the Masters, which included a hole-out eagle on the par-4 14th from just over 190 yards. Couples is the second-oldest player to break par at the Masters, only younger than Tom Watson in 2015.

It’s a feeling Couples gets when he walks around the course. Golf just makes sense. The shots are second nature. He can visualize each green’s contouring in his sleep. And despite playing at a scale unrecognizable to the modern TOUR pro that regularly hits it 40 yards past him, Couples did enough to compete Thursday. At 65, that’s all he wants.

“I can play golf. I can play around here,” Couples said. “If the weather is like this and not hard, I can – as long as I don't do crazy things I can shoot 73 or 74 or 75. That's not embarrassing myself at all.”

Couples has believed Augusta National suited him for 40 years. Or, put another way, since he first played here. This year marks Couples’ 40th jaunt around the Masters. He debuted in 1983 and amassed four top 10s before he eventually won the green jacket at the 1992 Masters by two shots over Raymond Floyd. He dreamed of winning it again, a goal he’s given up on – even if he knows rounds like Thursday are still possible.

“If I could have won it one more time it would be the greatest upset in the world of golf, but I didn't,” Couples said.

Making the cut this year would constitute a mild upset. To watch Couples in 2025 is to understand that, at times, he’s playing a different sport. Paired alongside Taylor Pendrith, Couples was more than 40 yards behind the Canadian after multiple tee shots. Hybrids outnumber irons in his setup. He can’t reach the par 5s in two. And while the rest of the field hopes to finish a few under par on them, Couples was happy with his 1-over score across the four par 5s.

“I learned a few things from him for sure just watching him play,” said Pendrith, who shot 5-over 77, six shots worse than Couples. “He's played here many, many times. He played awesome today. 1-under par is a fantastic round. He played really steady. Just kind of missed it in the right places and pecked away.”

But a knack for scoring around Augusta National is sticky. Bernhard Langer, who is making his last Masters start this year at age 67, is a prime example. Tiger Woods is another, maintaining his record cut streak (currently 24) in recent years despite his injuries.

Couples’ recent record is spotty as he’s battled his own ailments. His back was “shot” during last year’s Masters, and he revealed Thursday he only got through the week because of several cortisone shots.

The first round was a reminder that the sweet-swinging Couples is still a Masters maestro when his body cooperates. With Langer’s Masters retirement on the mind, Couples was asked after his round when he might hang it up for good.

“I can't answer that. I really can't. 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,” he said. “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 myself. So I can get it around. I'm not even going to guess. Might be next year, might be 70.”

For our sake, let’s hope it’s the latter. Since turning 50 in 2013, Couples has made the cut six times and he’s in position for No. 7.

Along with the eagle hole-out at 14, Couples improbably holed a birdie from left of the first green, “down where you don't want to ever be,” he said. His putt climbed up and over a large slope before slamming into the flagstick and dropping in.

If it were anyone other than Couples, you’d be surprised. But Freddie? It’s just what he does here.