At a fund-raiser last October for the Tiger Woods Learning Center, Couples jumped up on the stage during the auction and supercharged the demand for four tickets to the Masters by offering extras. The bidding, which had been stuck at $30,000, ultimately jumped to more than $150,000. "I thought I'd dice it up a little," says Couples.
After passing on induction into the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, Couples -- whose forebears on his father's side were named Coppola -- accepted the honor last year. Couples called the night "a thrill," especially when Yogi Berra, one of his father's favorite players and the progenitor of the mind-bending bon mot, presented his induction medal.
At the Target World Challenge, Couples made a point of criticizing Rory Sabbatini for pulling out of the event on Saturday night without notifying sponsors or the host, Woods. "Hey, Monty, am I wrong about this?" Couples called out to Colin Montgomerie with reporters present, as if recruiting more public comment against Sabbatini. The often-voluble Montgomerie thought better of it and threw up his hands, a gesture one could easily have seen Couples making only a few years ago. "I just think it's important not to disrespect people," said Couples, who went on to call for Sabbatini to donate his last-place prize of $170,000. "I mean, this whole thing is a gift. For the guy not to say 'I'm sorry' and 'thank you' is an insult."
And look for Couples to continue his not-so-subtle lobbying for a captaincy in the Ryder or Presidents cups. Even if he gets one of the jobs on his terms -- golf buddy Michael Jordan and comedian Robin Williams as assistants; no official team functions at night -- Couples knows he would still be under the kind of public scrutiny he has detested. "Maybe so," he says, "But it would still be a blast."
All the talk of social interaction reminds Couples of his late mother.
"My mom was so people-friendly," he says. "She was incredible. She'd go to the mall, and she'd talk to everyone. Give people a kiss on the cheek. I think if I wasn't pushed around a lot, I'd be great with people. Maybe I still can be."
That change, and others, will require Couples to push back against his own nature, which is perhaps another way of defining the process of maturity.
"You know, the clock doesn't stop ticking," says Porcello, the family friend. "I know Fred is determined, more so than I've seen him in a long time. Fred is like his dad, who was a great baseball player and the nicest person. But neither one of them ever went all out, never thought of anything as life and death. But now I see something new in Fred -- he's trying to extend himself further mentally than normal. If he can do that, I think it would be significant."
For someone who must take his golf day to day, Couples resists projecting. "My legacy? Hell, I don't know," he says. "My goal has always been to play golf, and play it well. In the end, that's what I am, a golfer. If my back lets me, I'm going to play my favorite places. If I hurt myself, that'll probably be it for a while. Maybe once I turn 50 I'd like to go out on the Champions Tour for a few years and win. I think it would be fun. To hoist those trophies up, I don't care who you are, it'll be a chore. It ain't easy."
As even Fred Couples finds out, nothing really is.
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