AUGUSTA, Ga. — The magic Fred Couples and Tom Watson had with them in the first round faded a bit yesterday as each slipped down the leaderboard.
Couples, fresh off his opening-round 66, the lowest round he ever has shot at the Masters and one that gave him the overnight lead, initially built on his lead when a birdie on No. 2 got him to 7-under par.
But Couples failed to capitalize on the momentum, losing four shots the rest of the way — a slide lowlighted by bogeys on the last three holes — and finished at 3-under entering the weekend after shooting 75.
“I just didn’t finish,” Couples said. “[Thursday] was a great day, [yesterday] was not so good. Seventy-five is not a very good score. I had some birdie putts, but I didn’t make any of them.”
Couples, 50, entered the week having won three times on the Champions Tour this year, shooting all 16 rounds in the 60s in his four events.
Watson, 60, equaled his all-time Masters low round of 67 on Thursday. He shot a 2-over-par 74 yesterday and also stands at 3-under.
