What Woods does on Sundays blots out everything that has come before, but among the now-forgotten early-week subplots at Bay Hill was Fred Couples's temporary renaissance. The 48-year-old warrior shared the first-round lead after a stellar 65 and appears ready for one last run at the Masters. He admitted last week to still being haunted by his agonizing near-miss in 2006, when he outplayed Phil Mickelson tee to green in the final pairing but gave away the tournament on the greens. "What happened on 14, you don't really get over it," Couples said of his fatal three-putt that Sunday from close range. "I mean, every time I walked up there last year — four rounds — I didn't even want to go near where that cup was."
Last year his balky back limited Couples to only one tournament in the season's first three months, but upon arriving at Augusta, he was rejuvenated once more, making his 23rd consecutive Masters cut to tie Gary Player's record. A new therapy regimen has allowed Couples to play more in '08, and off the tee he has looked like the Boom Boom of old. Though he faded to 64th at Bay Hill, Couples's cameo on the leader board reminded his competitors of what he's capable of. "When he's healthy, he's always a threat," says Jim Furyk.
Another of last week's overlooked newsmakers is also fighting to extend his competitive window. Vijay Singh, 45, was the story through 36 holes as he led by two strokes. Singh is about seven months into a dramatic swing overhaul, and it remains a work in progress, as his fade on the weekend made apparent. (In fairness Singh was also weakened by the residual effects of having lost 18 pounds the previous week after having "never left the bathroom for four days" following his visit to India for the Johnnie Walker Classic.)
What compels a man to blow up a swing that has already taken him to the Hall of Fame? "I had to do it to get to the next level," Singh says, and he didn't have to spell out to whose level he aspires. Winless since Bay Hill last year, Singh was unhappy with his ball striking for much of '07 as his action had become increasingly flat and laid-off at the top.
Instead of waiting for the off-season to make changes, Singh began his overhaul during the FedEx Cup playoffs, taking the club back more inside the target line and on a more upright plane. This year has seen other changes, with Singh breaking in a new caddie, a new trainer and, as of last week, a new putting stroke. (He went cross-handed with a short putter for the first time since 2004.) With so much of Singh's game in flux, it's hardly surprising that he couldn't hold it together at Bay Hill, but to his credit he kept fighting back. After finishing three strokes behind Woods, Singh was lamenting that it was a tournament that he should have won, but nonetheless he felt he had made further progress. "I'm satisfied with the way I'm hitting it," he said.
Then, in parting, Singh offered the thought that gives hope to the whole of the Tour: "There's always next week."
