FRED COUPLES

The PGA Tour is moving the Farmers Insurance Open off a big NFL Sunday.

Phil Mickelson is returning for his 13th consecutive Ryder Cup, this time without his clubs.

Phil Mickelson doesn’t need to be reminded of his age at the PGA Championship.

Don't expect a repeat of Dustin Johnson's record-shattering 20-under win as the Masters tees off.

No one needed to see the colorful blooms at Augusta National to realize this will be a much different Masters than the last one.

The PGA Tour has selected Love to be U.S. captain for the Presidents Cup in 2022 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was captain when Europe rallied from a 10-6 deficit to beat the Americans in the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah, and he was Ryder Cup captain for a rare U.S. victory four years later at Hazeltine. He also was an assistant captain in the Ryder Cup under Corey Pavin in 2010 and Jim Furyk in 2018 and is on the staff of Steve Stricker this year. The Presidents Cup was supposed to be played this year until the COVID-19 pandemic led to the Ryder Cup being postponed one year to this September. ... Tony Finau has 35 finishes in the top 10 since the start of the 2016-17 season on the PGA Tour without winning.

Johnson grew up about an hour away in South Carolina, and the Masters is the one major every Southern kid dreams about winning. Johnson already had become owner of a label not talked about enough: The best player to have only one major. He went from a 12-foot eagle putt for the win to a three-putt par to finish one shot behind. And then he delivered the key shot, an 8-iron down the slope to a pin tucked on the corner shelf. It will be the shortest time any Masters champion gets to keep the green jacket with him.

Langer, a two-time Masters champion and ageless wonder, gets to play two more rounds. He became the oldest player to make the 36-hole cut at the Masters, topping the record by Tommy Aaron in 2000 by 33 days. Tiger Woods constantly cites Langer and Fred Couples as examples of Masters champions who can find their way around the course and post good scores. When golf returned from the pandemic in June, Langer teed it up twice on the PGA Tour because the 50-and-older PGA Tour Champions had not resumed. Langer still decided to check on the policy on Tuesday night during the Masters Club dinner for past champions.

By the time the Masters ends Sunday, fans might still be debating whether that’s good for the game. Earlier in the week, DeChambeau was out on the practice range experimenting with a 48-inch-long driver — right up against golf’s rulebook and nearly two inches longer than most players use. In one memorable episode, the Masters tournament committee shelled out several million dollars to buy a piece of land about the size of four parking spaces from the country club next door to move back the 13th tee. During his practice round with Woods, they began comparing notes. At the 505-yard, par-4 11th, DeChambeau hit a pitching wedge and asked Woods, “What did you hit in ’97?”Woods replied: pitching wedge.

He has everyone curious about whether his bulk and his behemoth tee shots can undress Augusta National. “It's a substantially easier golf course for him than it is for everybody else,” said Justin Thomas, who joined DeChambeau, Woods and Fred Couples for a practice round at the start of the week. More recently, it was the excitement at home in Dallas when one of his drives carried just over 400 yards. “Every day I’m trying to get faster and stronger and I’m trying to hit it as far as possible,” DeChambeau said. Rory McIlroy still believes Augusta National provides the proper test no matter how far DeChambeau or anyone else hits it.

A balky putter cost him any shot at a second U.S. Open title. Unable to get much going from the start, Johnson closed out his tournament with a even-par 70 on Sunday in final round. The 2016 U.S. Open champion opened this year's tournament with a 3-over 73 and never really got on track at Winged Foot. “I felt like I hit a lot of good putts, just none that went in the hole,” Johnson said. Fred Couples (1979), Brad Faxon (’83) and Phil Mickelson (’90, ’91) and are among previous low amateurs at the U.S. Open.

Tirico is one of many announcers who has had to trade the press box for a home office. Tirico will be in the corner of his office in Michigan, some 1,300 miles away. The soft return of golf includes testing for COVID-19, thermal readings, social distancing and limited access. Rich Lerner from Golf Channel is doing play by play, with NBC analysts Paul Azinger and Gary Koch. You could get a lot of people become Matt Wolff fans if he has the game he showed in Minnesota, Tirico said.