A dozen years later, Freddie "Boom Boom" Couples, 32, is in the midst of what can only be called a boom-boom year. Since last year's U.S. Open, Couples—who will be teeing off next week in this year's Open at Pebble Beach, Calif.—has finished among the top six players in 13 of the 23 tournaments he has entered and has won five of them, including the 1992 Masters in April. Along the way, he was voted Tour Player of the Year, which has caused former Masters champ Tom Watson to say, "We're playing for second most of the time when we're playing against Freddie now."
Couples himself remains unimpressed. "In golf," he says, "you tee it up on Thursday whether you're ranked first or hundredth."
Couples came by his relaxed approach to life and links early on, while growing up in Seattle. His father, Tom, a football-stadium head groundskeeper, introduced him to golf, but for the most part Freddie taught himself how to play. By 16, he was shooting par on tournament courses. At the University of Houston, he made All-America and, more important, started dating Deborah Morgan. It was a classic case of opposites attracting. While Fred is shy and retiring, Deborah, 34, is dynamic and gregarious, a serious polo player who teaches tennis and runs an interior-remodeling business near their home outside West Palm Beach, Fla.
"Fred and I are not glamorous people," says Deborah. Indeed, Fred doesn't quite get why people are making such a fuss about him. "I just play to play," says Couples, who lets his game speak for itself. Mostly it says, "Boom! Boom!"
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
