Here is his a portion of his interview:

PHIL STAMBAUGH: We welcome Fred Couples into the interview room. Fred, coming back to your hometown to play fresh off your victory, first senior major championship at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship. Last year you finished third here. Just a couple general thoughts about coming back to your hometown to play.

FRED COUPLES: Well, yeah, I’m always excited to come back, as I’ve said a million times. There haven’t been a whole lot of tournaments in Seattle, and it’s just very nice to be up here.

Michelle does a great job, and Boeing is a huge sponsor for us. But for me personally I leave all that aside; it’s just fun to I don’t get to see my family much. For instance, today I play at 1:30 so I’ll be done at I’m guessing 7:00, and then drive back to staying with a buddy, be back there by 8:00, and then you go to bed and do it again tomorrow. So it’s a busy week, but it’s a fun week.

I just think it’s unique to play in your hometown, especially when in my 30 years on TOUR, I think we’ve had a PGA Craig Parry won, whatever that was called, the American Express, and I think that’s it. And then last year the well, and that’s why we had it, so I could come home for a week.

But there are so many great courses up here, but I think after the U.S. Open last year and the support that the tournament got and all the players got, hopefully we can come back here and maybe play a Senior PGA or U.S. Open here pretty soon before I’m done.

For more of the interview, including questions on his hip, his treatment in Germany and the President’s Cup, click here.

I’m going to attempt to do links to stories when Fred is playing or in the news. Unfortunately, as is quite obvious over the past three years, I simply don’t have the time to dedicate to updating the site on a frequent basis.

This page has always been about the fans and despite very infrequent postings, the forum has remained lively. That’s the place to be – there’s nothing that I post here that can’t be found on the major news sites.

In an effort to encourage more discussion, it is no longer necessary to register to post to articles that appear here. (You must register to post on the forum, however…) There could be other updates as time goes by, including optimizing the site for smartphones and tablets in the near future. (This site will appear the same for computers, but a separate appearance will occur when accessing the site via smartphone or tablet…)

If you’re interested in contributing to the site, please send me an e-mail (earthgolf@gmail.com) and I’ll be happy to discuss.

Thanks and go Fred!

More coverage coming. Including a revamped layout and what’s to come.

Congrats Freddie!

Fred Couples hot streak of 2010 continued into the first round of the season’s first major at the Masters. Couples had missed the two previous cuts at the Masters after making a record tying 22 consecutive cuts.

This year appears to be much different.

Building his confidence in his putting by winning 3 of his first 4 starts on the Champions Tour, Fred Couples blistered the Augusta National golf course on Thursday, making 7 birdies in route to an opening round 66. The 6-under par round put him a shot clear of those chasing him.

For images from Round 1, click here.

Phil Mickelson’s late-season performances haven’t been that great, but they haven’t turned off Fred Couples, the captain of the U.S. Presidents Cup team. Couples and Mickelson have traded a number of text messages in recent weeks, and Mickelson said his committment is strong to play at Harding Park in San Francisco in two weeks.

Asked about Mickelson, Couples responded in a text message that he is firmly behind Mickelson. “I am not worried about Phil, ever,” Couples wrote. “I want him there and he is such a team guy.”

Here we are in the second week of September, less than a month away from the start of The Presidents Cup. I can’t tell you how exciting it is to be this close to heading to Harding Park and getting the matches started.

A lot has happened since early August. Most importantly, the teams are set. We rounded out the squads last week by making our Captain’s Picks in Washington, D.C., at the National Press Club. It was a busy day and included a very special stop, but I will get to that in a minute. Let’s talk about the United States team.

We have a nice blend of players, and I really like some of the potential pairings we could see during the foursomes and four-ball sessions. Jay Haas, my assistant captain, and I have been tossing ideas back and forth regarding pairings.

Obviously when you have a team that includes Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, it makes the captain’s job easier. Steve Stricker is fresh off his third victory of the season and is playing as well as anyone in the world right now. It’s also nice knowing we have a handful of guys with a wealth of match-play experience in international competition.

Players like Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard have been through these matches before, as well as countless Ryder Cups, and pair nicely with just about everyone on the team. Anthony Kim, one of our two rookies along with Sean O’Hair, cut his teeth in international competition in last year’s Ryder Cup and will provide a spark for this team as well.

As you know, I’ve selected Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan with my two Captain’s Picks. Both have played great all year and have experience in The Presidents Cup after competing at Royal Montreal in 2007. They are two great additions to the team, and I know that they will come to Harding Park ready to compete.

Now, back to our day in Washington last week to announce our Captain’s Picks. The day began with a press conference at the National Press Club, where Greg and I announced our picks. I had made it pretty clear a couple weeks ago that I was leaning toward Lucas and Hunter, but Greg kept everyone in the dark regarding his picks, Ryo Ishikawa and Adam Scott. We answered a few questions from the media regarding why we picked who we did, thoughts on Harding Park and what kind of final preparations we will be making in the last couple of weeks leading up to The Presidents Cup.

After the press conference, we went to the White House for a brief meeting with President Obama, who will serve as Honorary Chairman of The Presidents Cup. We only had a short time with the president given his busy schedule but were able to spend a little more time with Vice President Biden, who is an avid golfer. I do appreciate the president and vice president lending their support to The Presidents Cup, and it was great to hear their enthusiastic support first hand.

With the PGA TOUR Playoffs finishing up at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, my guys will have a chance to get one more week of competitive golf under their belts — and a tough test, at that — and then rest up before we all travel to San Francisco. Like I said before, this has been a long, fun process, and I can’t wait to get things started in a few weeks at Harding Park.

The top 10 U.S. players who earned the most official PGA TOUR money from the 2007 Wyndham Championship through the 2009 PGA Championship (with money earned in 2009 counting as double) automatically made the U.S. Team.

Glover and Mahan are Captain’s Picks for the second consecutive Presidents Cup. In 2007, Glover was 10th going into the PGA Championship, but was knocked down to 11th after Woody Austin’s second-place finish at the season’s final major vaulted him from 18th to 10th in the standings for the U.S. Team. Mahan finished 14th in the standings in 2007.

This year, Glover, the U.S. Open champion, finished No. 11 in the U.S. Team standings after the PGA Championship, and Mahan occupied position No. 13

In addition to his breakthrough major championship victory at Bethpage State Park in June, Glover has four other top-five finishes on his 2009 résumé, including a solo fifth at the PGA Championship. Glover is currently ranked No. 14 in the FedExCup standings and leads the TOUR in total driving and total birdies (341). The U.S. Open was Glover’s second PGA TOUR win, following his victory at the 2005 FUNAI Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort.

A model of consistency throughout the 2009 season, Mahan is making his second consecutive appearance in The Presidents Cup. He has made 21-of-22 cuts on the year and notched six top 10s, highlighted by a solo second at the AT&T National in July and a T4 at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational last month. Mahan is ranked No. 21 in the FedExCup standings. He’s T4 in PGA TOUR scoring average (69.56) and T4 in total birdies (330). Mahan’s lone PGA TOUR victory came at the 2007 Travelers Championship.

A lot has happened in the world of golf since I last checked in. It’s hard to believe that in less than four months, The Presidents Cup will be underway in San Francisco. Since I last posted, a couple of players I will be counting on heavily at Harding Park have won on the PGA TOUR, some young guys who may be on the squad for the first time have continued to play well and I was able to play some competitive golf along the way too.

From a captain’s perspective, it was nice to see Tiger notch his second victory of the year at the Memorial. He looked stronger than ever, hitting just about every fairway, holing memorable shots from around the green and winning Jack Nicklaus’ tournament for a fourth time.

Speaking of Tiger, it looks like the player he clipped by one shot back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, Sean O’Hair, will be making his Presidents Cup debut. Sean has really shown me a lot for a player who is only 26 years old. Losing to Tiger after taking a five-shot lead into the final round would be a tough pill to swallow for any player on TOUR. However, Sean really showed how tough a competitor he is by bouncing back and besting a world-class field on a great golf course to win the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte back in May. He’s fifth in the standings right now and I’m excited he may be part of the team.

There’s a good chance Sean won’t be the only rookie on the squad in October. Brian Gay posted his second victory of the season in impressive fashion last month in Memphis and has jumped into the top 10 in the standings at No. 8. It’s so hard to win on the PGA TOUR now and for Brian to have won twice already in the manner he did at Hilton Head and Memphis has been great to see.

Though he wouldn’t be a Presidents Cup rookie after competing in 2007 at Royal Montreal, Lucas Glover looked rock solid in that Monday finish at the U.S. Open. He’s moved to No. 12 in the standings and his confidence has to be sky high after that victory.

Speaking of the U.S. Open, I caddied for Michael Jordan in the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge the Friday before the U.S. Open. As you probably know, Michael is one of my Assistant Captains for The Presidents Cup. We had a great time, with Michael playing well on the back nine after a tough front side at Bethpage Black.

I’m excited about the balance our team may have between young, up-and-coming players and seasoned veterans. I held a meeting with the players who are in contention to make the U.S. Presidents Cup Team back at THE PLAYERS Championship in May to discuss a few things with the guys. It was great to get everyone together, answer some of their questions — and ask some of my own.

On a personal note, I’ve actually been able to put together a couple of nice tournaments over the past couple months. It’s been great for me as a player, but I also think it’s beneficial in my role as captain as I get a front row seat to observe some of the players competing for a spot on the U.S. Team.

This week’s AT&T National at Congressional will be my first tournament since mid-May, so hopefully I can keep the good rounds coming. I always love coming to Congressional. The golf course is great and I broke through for my first PGA TOUR victory here back at the 1983 Kemper Open.

The U.S. Open is already in the rearview mirror and it will be October before we know it. That’s it for now. Enjoy your summer and I will check back with you next month.

For a unique insight into Fred’s life, Golf Digest posted a memorable interview with Fred and caddie Joe LaCava by Bob Verdi yesterday leading up to this week’s PLAYERS.

The Players Championship is played at TPC Sawgrass, designed by Pete Dye. The course plays over 7,200 yards at a par of 72 and opened in 1980.

TV this week:
Thu, 5/7: Golf Channel 1-7
Fri, 5/8: Golf Channel 1-7
Sat, 5/9: NBC 2-7
Sun, 5/10: NBC 2-7

Official site: PGATour.com | Tickets

Defending Champion: Sergio Garcia (-5)

Fred’s iron play was incredibly erratic and was unable to find a fairway all day. He only hit 6 of 14 fairways and only 8 of 18 greens. Incredibly, Fred only had 25 putts on the day and he showed real tenacity by closing with birdies on 17 and 18.

Unfortunately, this likely means this was his only major this year. Unless he attempts to qualify for the British or US Opens, he won’t play in another major. He won’t be ranked high enough to make it into the PGA, so the only way he’ll be able to play in that major is by special invitation. This likely means that Fred will only play a few more tournaments before setting his sites on the Champions Tour in October when he turns 50.