Could 2018 be the final Masters for Fred Couples?

For over 30 years, Fred Couples has battled through generations of competitors at Augusta National, but could 2018 be his last chance at the green jacket?

After accepting a golf scholarship to the University of Houston in 1977, Fred Couples quickly began his ascension into the history books of golf. Three years later, he turned pro and, by 1982, Couples was part of the PGA Tour. The Seattle native’s first trip to Augusta National came in 1983 where he finished tied for 32nd in the field.

Since his first attempt at a green jacket, Couples has competed in 32 Masters tournaments, including 29 made cuts. In 1992, he was successful on his 9th attempt. This year, Couples enters his 33rd Masters at the age of 58 and in a back brace.

While on the surface, Couples’ competitive days at golf’s majors is up for debate, you certainly wouldn’t know it by looking at him. In his preparation for this year’s event, Couples told Golf.com that he hadn’t played a round since mid-January. Couples got a solid round in with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson on Tuesday and got in reps during the Par-3 contest Wednesday.

Coming out in the first round on Thursday, Couples certainly had some cobwebs to shake off. Over the first 11 holes, the former Masters champion found himself at 2-over for his round. As he is known to do, Couples brushed off the rust and made magic at 12 with a hole out from the green side bunker.

He would go on to birdie the 13th and 15th holes as well momentarily getting to 1-under for his round. A slight stumble down the stretch brought Couples back to even par with a bogey at 18. Sitting six shots off the lead heading into round two Couples showed confidence early on in Friday’s round.

After starting even par for his second round through the first seven holes, Couples quickly picked things up. At the par-5 8th hole he put his tee shot in perfect position to play into the green and get back to under par for the tournament. Couples would hit his pitch shot to just seven feet from the hole and work in the birdie from there.

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Unfortunately for the veteran, the back nine was less forgiving. Despite birdies again at 12, 13 and 15 Couples recorded bogeys at 10, 16 and again on 18. Add in a double bogey at 11 and Couples finished Friday with a 74 putting him 2-over for the tournament.

Couples can only sit back and watch the scores roll and hope no one posts a big enough score to knock him out of the weekend’s contention. Whether in contention or not Couples has always provided instant memories at the Masters. The only question now is how many more rounds will fans get to see Couples perform in?