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Golfer Fred Couples speaks during his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame at the World Golf Village in St Augustine, Florida.
Reuters/Miami
Fred Couples, renowned for being one of the most laid-back figures in the game, was overcome by emotion after being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2013 yesterday.
The American former world number one, a 15-times champion on the PGA Tour, twice choked up with tears during his acceptance speech in St. Augustine, Florida on what he described as “the coolest night of my life”.
Couples was inducted along with eight-times European Tour order of merit winner Colin Montgomerie, former U.S. Open champion and television broadcaster Ken Venturi, former European Tour executive director Ken Schofield and twice former British Open winner Willie Park Jr.
The first American player to reach number one in the official world rankings, Couples broke down when he described how he had gained motivation to pursue a career in golf while attending a golf clinic in his native Seattle at the age of 14.
“An unbelievable PGA Tour player was doing the clinic, and I got up front and I was staring at him,” the 53-year-old Couples recalled.
“I wasn’t really the person who said, ‘That’s what I want to do, I’m going to be a PGA Tour player.’ But I knew I wanted to really, really get involved in
golf.
“And the gentleman’s name was Lee Trevino, who has been a mentor and someone I love.”
Couples’ golfing journey took him from Seattle to the University of Houston and he went on to become one of the most popular players in the game with a languid swing and prodigious length off the tee which earned him the nickname ‘Boom Boom’.
He won his only major title at the 1992 Masters but also clinched the prestigious Players Championship in 1984 and 1996, an event widely regarded as the unofficial fifth major.
A veteran of five Ryder Cups, Couples captained the triumphant US Presidents Cup teams in 2009 and 2011, and also has eight wins on the Champions Tour for players aged over 50.
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