More Skins Action for 50-Year-Old Fred Couples

THE SKINS GAME IS OVER—at least for now. This past Thanksgiving Day weekend was the first time the Silly Season event wasn’t played since the early 1980s. That’s not a problem for the “King of Skins,” Fred Couples. Now 50, Freddie will make his Champions Tour debut by playing the old guys version next month in Hawaii.

To be played at Royal Kaanapali on Maui on January 16 and 17, the Champions Skins Game will feature two-man teams playing alternate shot format. Couples will team with Nick Price. The other teams are defending champions Ben Crenshaw and Fuzzy Zoeller, Loren Roberts and Gary Player, and Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus.

The purse is $770,000, and don’t be surprised if Mr. Couples wins his share. In nearly 600 PGA Tour events, Freddie earned $21 million. Add $4 million in just 14 Skins Game appearances. If they had a Skins Game Tour, Freddie would rule the world.

“I could not think of a better way for me, personally, to start on the Champions Tour than to play in this format and have the chance to hang out with this group of players,” he told the Associated Press.

Hang out and win a healthy share of skins might be more like it. We’ll see if Freddie can ring up as many birdies in January as he has in November.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Chase McAlpine/Flickr)