Cool and classic Couples still worth watching at Riviera

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Fred Couples finished second in his first event on the Champions Tour two weeks ago.

There's just something about Fred Couples.

Maybe it's the creaky back. Or the deep laugh lines. Or the suddenly aggressive strands of white and gray taking over that once dark head of hair.

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Maybe it's the broad shoulders that wear shirts as well -- perhaps even better -- than they did two decades ago. Maybe it's the swing that seems so easy, but you can't quite figure out. Maybe it's those shoulder shrugs and back twists that keep him loose or those wrinkled-nose, pursed-lip faces he makes as he waits for his shots to land.

Maybe it's how he always seems to find a way to bounce back from all the struggles he's had in his personal life. Maybe it's his penchant for not answering the phone or his passion for sports. Maybe it's his stream-of-consciousness run-on answers to just about anything. Maybe it's because it doesn't matter who he's hanging with -- Jordan, old friends or new pro-am partners -- he's still the same old Fred.

Maybe it's a little of all the above. Maybe it's because he just gets better with age.

No one pulls you in like Freddie. You may be in awe of Tiger's focus on the course or his resume, you may dream that you could take down just one hole -- not every course in the world -- with your short game like Phil. You may admire Jack or Tom Watson.

But there's no one you want to hang out with more than Fred.

You knew that in five seconds flat. Maybe less.

He's timeless. Classic. His generation's Arnold Palmer, minus the winks.

And at 50, he's taking on one of his favorite courses once again. Yes, he'll tee it up in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera this week and try to win for a third time on this storied course with a glitzy, glam past.

Forget that he's going up against the game's young guns and the man to beat in two-time defending champ Phil Mickelson. This after all, is a course Fred kinda, sorta owns. Not like Ben Hogan, who won four LA Opens and a U.S. Open here. Not like Hollywood who used it as a backdrop for Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

No, Fred's record is a little more subtle. He's played in this event 27 times, won twice, finished second once and had 13 top-10s. And, oh, he came within a bad 7-iron approach to the 72nd hole last year of a playoff with Phil. He wound up in a tie for third. At 49.

Fred is the latest fifysomething to split time between the TOUR and Champions Tour. He saw what buddy Jay Haas did, what Watson and Greg Norman did at back-to-back British Opens and what a healthy Fred Funk -- Freddie Poof-Poof to this Freddie Boom-Boom -- has done over the last two years and decided he wasn't ready to settle into the senior circuit full time.

Two Sundays ago, he walked off the Hualalai course shaking his head having shot 21-under in his Champions debut. It was only good enough for second, one shot behind 60-year-old Tom Watson, who birdied the last hole for the win.

"It wasn't over,'' Fred said, "until he said it was over.''

Come Sunday, the field here might do well to remember just that.

Fred plays this course exquisitely. He knows the nooks and crannies. He's as comfortable here as just about any course on the planet. And as a bonus? If he's in one of the final groups Sunday, Super Bowl pre-game parties will have to wait.

The last time he won a TOUR event -- the 2003 Shell Houston Open -- the crowd was amazing. Houston has been his town since his days as a Houston Cougar when he hung out with the likes of Jim Nantz and Blaine McCallister and Paul Marchand. He really didn't date in college -- as Nantz said Fred was always someone's third wheel -- and he didn't drive until he was in 20s.

Back then, it was just part of his charm. It was one of those somethings that set him apart; that made him Fred.

Thirty years and 15 TOUR wins later, he's still got game enough to play the with young guys. In addition to that third at Riviera last year -- and while busy as the Presidents Cup captain -- he also tied for third in Houston, tied for eighth at the HP Byron Nelson and tied for fifth at the Wyndham Championship.

What makes it even better? He's still just Fred.

After finishing second to Watson, he ambled off the green like it was just another round and had just one question -- who won the football game?

Like we said. Cool. Classic. Timeless.

And a good bet at Riviera.

Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.