Fred Couples

After a shaky start to his final round that allowed 49-year-old Raymond Floyd to claim the lead, Couples took it back with 18- and 20-foot birdie putts at the 8th and 9th holes, respectively, then saved par on a Slick 6-footer at 10.

At 12 (perhaps the scariest par-3 in the world), Couples barely cleared Rae's Creek in front of the green.

Although his ball rolled back towards the water, it incredibly remained on the bank and he saved par.

Sensing that destiny was on his side, Couples held off Floyd the rest of the way, completing Augusta's treacherous back nine with eight pars and one birdie to win his first Major.

The win pushed Couples past the $1 million mark in earnings on the season as well, by far the fastest any player had reached that plateau.

Couples is sometimes called "Mr. Skins" because of his dominance in the Skins Game.

Frederick Steven Couples (born October 3, 1959) is an American professional golfer who has competed on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions.

Couples attended O'Dea High School in Seattle and graduated in 1977.

In 1977, Couples accepted a golf scholarship to the University of Houston.

As a member of the Houston Cougars men's golf team, he roomed with Blaine McCallister, another future PGA Tour player, and future CBS television broadcaster Jim Nantz.

As a 19-year-old amateur, Couples beat PGA Tour veteran (and fellow Seattle native) Don Bies in a playoff to win the 1978 Washington Open at the Glendale Country Club in Bellevue.

Couples's first PGA Tour victory came at the Kemper Open in 1983 at Congressional Country Club in suburban Washington, D.C. Playing in the final group with Scott Simpson and Chen Tze-chung, the three finished over one hour after the previous group on the course.

In spite of rounds of 77, 76, and 77, Couples, Simpson, and Chen finished tied for first along with Gil Morgan and Barry Jaeckel who had finished their rounds several hours earlier.

Jaeckel, who spent time in a bar waiting for regulation play to conclude, was eliminated on the first playoff hole after hitting a wild tee shot.

On the second hole, Couples scored a birdie to take home the title.

In addition to his Kemper Open win, Couples won another fourteen PGA Tour titles.

Among them were two Players Championships (1984, 1996) and one major victory, the 1992 Masters Tournament.

Couples became the oldest person to make the cut in the Masters Tournament history during the Tournament's 87th edition at 63 years, six months, and five days.

He has been named to the United States Ryder Cup team five times, in 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997.

Couples was frequently accused of "choking" in his early career, with mistakes in the 1989 Ryder Cup and the 1990 PGA Championship at Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club often mentioned.

Couples was named the PGA Tour Player of the Year twice, in 1991 and 1992.

He also won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average in each of those years.

Couples has nine top-10 finishes in the Open Championship, including tying for third in 1991 at Royal Birkdale, shooting a last round 64, and again tying for third in 2005 at St Andrews.

In addition to his The Open Championship success Couples played well in many other international tournaments.

A former World No. 1, he has won 64 professional tournaments, most notably the Masters Tournament in 1992, and the Players Championship in 1984 and 1996.

In 1992, Couples became the first American player to reach the number one position in the Official World Golf Rankings (since the World Ranking points system debuted in April 1986).

He spent 16 weeks at number 1, after one of the hottest ever starts to a season by a PGA Tour player.

Beginning with the Nissan Los Angeles Open, where he defeated Davis Love III in a playoff, Couples won two tournaments and finished second in two others in the five weeks leading up to The Masters.

At Augusta, Couples carried over his momentum, shooting in the 60s in each of the first three rounds to hold second place heading into Sunday.

He has won the event five times (in 1995, 1996, 1999, 2003, and 2004), accumulating over $3.5 million and 77 skins in 11 appearances.

Because of his dominance at the Skins and other off-season events like the Johnnie Walker World Golf Championship, Couples is also known as the "King of the Silly Season," referring to the exotic made-for-TV events staged in the winter that are better known as the "silly season."

He won two prestigious European Tour events, the Dubai Desert Classic and the Johnnie Walker Classic, in back-to-back weeks in 1995.

In August 2011, Couples won his first senior major at the Senior Players Championship and followed this up in July 2012 when he won the Senior Open Championship.

He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013.

Couples garnered the nickname "Boom Boom" for his long, accurate driving ability off the tee during the prime of his career.

Couples was born in Seattle, Washington to Tom and Violet (née Sobich) Couples.

His paternal grandparents immigrated from Italy and changed the family name from "Coppola" to "Couples" to make it sound less ethnic.

His mother was of Croatian descent.

His father was a groundskeeper for the Seattle Parks Department and the family, which included brother Tom Jr. and sister Cindy, lived in a modest house on Beacon Hill near the city's Jefferson Park golf course, where Couples developed his signature loose, rhythmic swing in order to gain enough distance to keep up with the older children.

Couples admitted to being self-taught, never taking a lesson and never hiring a swing coach.