Freddie Will Crawl To Riviera's First Tee If He Has To

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Jill Painter on Fred Couples' back acting up again. Warning, it's hard to read if you've ever had a back injury.

And sleeping, well that's not happening much these days, either.

Yet Couples, who has a home in Pacific Palisades, is always a fan favorite at Riviera and plans to commit to play in next week's Northern Trust Open.

If his back cooperates.

"I know it's my favorite tournament, beside Augusta, obviously the TPC," Couples said Tuesday in a conference call.

His love for the Los Angeles event, which he won in 1990 and 1992, is so great he's planning to drive from his home in Palm Springs and tee it up. He finished the drive last week, so he figures he can do another one.

"I drove home from Arizona around 6, and I stopped in Quartzite, and you're going to laugh. ... I didn't even get gas," Couples said laughing. "I walked around the car. I went in and got a candy bar, and I stopped in Blythe, which is only another 50 miles, and I made it into Palm Springs. I took an Epsom bath. I feel like I'm 400 years old."

"He was a semi-socialist ex-caddie surrounded by right-wing members of Augusta National and Seminole (forgive the redundancies)"

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I certainly had my disagreements with him but how do you not do a little something for someone after 32 years with the organization other than give him a mention in the President's speech? Granted, Fay probably wouldn't have come even if they assured him the tribute would be brief, but the entire thing left me wondering how the 36 applicants for his job--many of whom were in the room--must have felt knowing 32 years resulted in so little affection.
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"Is strange that it has taken so long for wee Timmy to catch on to the obvious benefits."

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Thursday's Woods-Kaymer-Westwood pairing came as little surprise to the Euro press, but to us it's still a shocker considering we're only a few weeks into storyline pairings on the PGA Tour. Steve Elling and John Huggan kick this and other stuff around on the eve of the Pebble Beach and Dubai events.
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The Real Reason Titleist Salesman Dress Like Pat Boone

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My Golf Spy provides the answer to one of the game's most elusive questions: why Titleist reps wear white sports coats when they represent their company at trade shows:

For more than 50 years the Titleist White Coat has been the symbol of this organization’s commitment to Leadership. In the early days, when touring professionals traveled around the country to compete in tournaments, they were told to look for the local market Titleist Representative who could easily be distinguished by the White Coat he or she wore. Since none of the participants were paid to play equipment at the tim

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Finchem On DQ Rule: “I am cautiously optimistic"

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Doug Ferguson reports that PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem not only welcomes welcomes viewer call-ins on rules violations, but it also sounds like his visit with the USGA last week has him realizing the governing bodies will not be rewriting the rules to protect those who don't know the rules.

“In Harrington’s case, you could see the ball move a little bit in HD television. You couldn’t see it move in analog. And he didn’t know,” Finchem said. “So there needs to be fairness and common sense to the rule.”

Finchem said he wants the PGA to follow the USGA’s lead and he anticipates they will end up with “a few, little, small” changes to the rules.

“I am cautiously optimistic we’ll get to some modifications that will just create a better system.”