Couples named Champions Tour's Rookie of the Year

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Couples won four times on the Champions Tour in 2010 and also notched four runner-ups.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Fred Couples earned the Champions Tour Rookie of the Year title. His record-setting rookie season was a memorable one. Along with four victories, Couples established new records in three statistical categories and earned more than $2 million in a season for the first time in his 30-year career with $2,344,894. He also finished second to Bernhard Langer in both the Charles Schwab Cup and money list races.

Couples smashed three Champions Tour all-time records, all previously set by Hale Irwin in 1998 -- the Scoring Average record in a season (68.59), with a 67.96, the Putting Average (1.700), with 1.693 and the Birdie Average mark (4.80) at 5.00. He was also the quickest player to reach $1 million, hitting the seven-figure mark in his sixth event of the year.

Couples made Champions Tour history becoming the first player to win three of his first four career starts. He was also the first player in Champions Tour history to win three consecutive events with sub-200 totals.

Couples was the first-round leader at the Masters Tournament, eventually finishing sixth with a 9-under-par total of 279, the lowest 72-hole Masters total by a player over the age of 50.

Toward the end of the season, Couples won his fourth title of the year with a seven-stroke victory at the Administaff Small Business Classic, joining David Frost (3M Championship) with the largest winning margin on the Champions Tour in 2010.