Austin’s Daily Commentary – Augusta National And Fred Couples Playing In The Tournament

Austin: There's a lot of romance attached to the mystique of Augusta National. So many wonderful traditions, the incredibly stately clubhouse, the charm and allure of the menu selections, pimento cheese on a sunny southern morning. I gotta tell you folks, it's something out of a storybook, but the heroes from days past, the grizzled warriors that come back for a two or three day reunion with great fans. It is the perfect sports story.

Can you imagine going to an NFL stadium and being able to see Roger Staubach or Walter Payton or Terry Bradshaw suited up and do it again and do it with some manner of respect. Fred Couples, what in the world? 65 years old. He won his master's 33 years ago.

His green jacket was put on his shoulders at a time when about a third of the field wasn't even born yet. My goodness gracious, what a wonderful, wonderful legacy for this man. And what a tremendous tribute to all older players who get out on the course every single week and say, you know what? I'm not going to let age dictate what I do.

I'm going to let the score dictate what I do. There was talk of Fred Couples retiring from competitive play at Augusta National. He actually thought it was a rule that at the age of 65 you had to hang it up.

No, the rule is the score. You make the decision, Fred, and I hope that you don't make that decision for a long time to come. 71 yesterday.

Are you kidding me? It is the stuff of legend. Fred Couples, thanks for putting all those old guys out there giving it a try. My goodness gracious, what fun it was to watch Fred Couples on Thursday.

And that's a comment. I'm Austin Rhodes, 95.1 FM News Talk, WGAC.