Noted Seattle Seahawks fan Fred Couples – who’s a season ticket holder and was an honorary 12th Man at a game earlier this season – bought two tickets to Super Bowl XLVIII months ago with hopes that his squad would actually make it there. They did. How perfect.
Related Link: Fred Couples Honorary 12th Man at Seahawks’ Game
That is, until Couples played too well at the Dubai Desert Classic. Not so well that he found himself in contention to win, but just well enough to stick around for the weekend. Thus, he had to give up his tickets. And he missed witnessing the Seahawks win their first ever Super Bowl in one of the most dominating fashions ever.
“Call me stupid,” Couples joked to ESPN after his round on Friday, which saw him birdie his final two holes to make the cut by one stroke at 3-under-par. “I tried to bogey (No. 16) and I did,” Couples added. “I tried to bogey 13, the par-5, and I did. I just couldn’t butcher enough holes.”
Commiserations & congrats to Fred Couples! Finished birdie-birdie to make cut @OmegaDDC meaning he’ll miss his beloved @Seahawks @SuperBowl!
— ECCO Golf (@ECCO_GOLF) January 31, 2014
Couples dropped back a bit with a 1-over 73 on Saturday, then carded a 2-under 70 on Sunday.
The 54-year-old with chronic back issues rarely plays European Tour events – he hadn’t made a start on that tour since 2012, when he also played in Dubai – and was only on hand this year as part of the event’s 25-year anniversary celebration. Couples won the Dubai Desert Classic in 1995.
He had never been to the Super Bowl and looked into flights from Dubai to New York just in case he missed the cut. But he stayed and sold the 50-yard-line seats, and told reporters he’d watch the game at the airport in Dubai, where kickoff was 3:25 a.m. Monday morning.
However rough that may have been, Couples was surely pleased with the outcome.
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