Could Fred Couples get a U.S. Open exemption?
For 1992 Masters champion and Seattle native Fred Couples, there’s only one way into next week’s U.S. Open: via a special exemption only the USGA can grant.
Couples tried to compete in Newport Beach, Calif., in one of the 10 sectional qualifiers on Monday but withdrew citing an aggravation of his chronic back issues. However, that injury hasn’t dissuaded some Couples fans for starting a Facebook page pleading the USGA to give Boom-Boom a last-minute invite to play at Chambers Bay.
Seattle Times columnist Larry Stone made the case on Wednesday, knowing full well there’s about as much chance of it happening as an amateur winning the U.S. Open for the first time in 82 years. Tom Watson has been given five special exemptions into the national championship, with his last — and the last overall — coming in 2010 at Pebble Beach.
Couples hasn’t even played in the U.S. Open since finishing T-48 in 2006 at Winged Foot. In his career, Couples has three top-10 U.S. Open finishes, with his best a T-3 effort in the 1991 Open, three shots out of a Payne Stewart-Scott Simpson playoff that Stewart eventually won.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
