{"id":587231,"date":"2026-04-07T03:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T03:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/587231\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T03:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T03:35:12","slug":"id-tell-him-i-love-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/587231\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019d tell him I love him\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUGUSTA, Ga. \u2014\u00a0Fred Couples<\/a> knows something about pain. For nearly half of his 66 years he has battled debilitating back issues that at the Masters two years ago had him in such acute discomfort<\/a> when hitting short irons that he warmed up with only his driver and 3-wood. In the first round, Couples was so miserable that he wanted to quit but resisted only because he didn\u2019t want to throw his playing partners out of sync.<\/p>\n

Tiger Woods, you\u2019ve probably heard, also knows something about pain. No one can say with certainty exactly how many surgeries Woods has had in his professional career (somewhere between \u201ca lot\u201d and \u201ca whole lot\u201d), but we do know the most recent of his seven known back procedures came in October to treat a collapsed disc and compromised spinal canal. <\/p>\n

When Woods was arrested for suspicion of DUI<\/a> on March 27, he told police that he had taken prescription pain medication earlier in the day; police also found opioid pills in Woods\u2019s pocket. On March 31, Woods said in a statement<\/a> that he was stepping away from the game \u201cto seek treatment and focus on my health\u201d as he works \u201ctoward lasting recovery.\u201d A day later, a Florida judge approved Woods\u2019s request to travel overseas for \u201ccomprehensive inpatient treatment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chronic pain isn\u2019t the only thing Couples and Woods have in common. They share a bond that dates to the 1997 Ryder Cup when Couples first took Woods under his wing. In the years since, Woods and Couples became Masters practice-round partners, dinner mates and text buddies. They even shared a caddie; Couples\u2019 former looper, Joe LaCava<\/a>, went on to spend a dozen years on Woods\u2019s bag. In 2022, Woods referred to Couples as \u201cmy dad on Tour.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

So, when Couples wrapped his Monday practice round here at the 90th playing of the Masters Tournament, Woods \u2014\u00a0and his struggles \u2014 was a natural talking point. Couples had seen the unconfirmed reports that a private jet belonging to Woods was spotted in Switzerland but sounded uncertain of Woods\u2019s whereabouts. \u201cIf he\u2019s in Switzerland,\u201d Couples told reporters, \u201che must be at a spot that\u2019s going to help him and that\u2019s the key thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Couples said he texted Woods a few days after Woods\u2019s car accident and subsequent arrest but didn\u2019t feel like it was his place to pry for information. \u201cFor me now to get involved with this would not make much sense,\u201d Couples said. \u201cDoesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m not paying attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Couples isn\u2019t alone in that sense. Woods, who won his fifth Masters title in 2019, has played such an outsized role in the last 30 years of this annual rite of spring that it\u2019s hard not think about him when you stroll this storied property. Bubba Watson<\/a>, who has two green jackets of his own, said Monday he \u201calways\u201d pulls for Woods. \u201cI told him from day one that we started hanging out back in \u201906, \u201907, somewhere in there, that I\u2019m pulling for him as a human being,\u201d Watson said. \u201cForget his golf, I could care less about his golf.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n \"Tiger <\/a><\/p>\n

Tiger Woods\u2019s fiercest opponent is Tiger Woods himself<\/a><\/p>\n

By:<\/p>\n


\n Michael Bamberger <\/a><\/p>\n

Jason Day, who is playing in his 14th Masters and, like Woods, has battled back injuries, also was asked to reflect on Woods\u2019s situation. \u201cHe\u2019s not immune to [addiction] just because he can hit a golf ball really well,\u201d Day said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re going through that many procedures, it\u2019s painful coming out of those procedures. I\u2019ve had procedures done and I typically try and stay away from all that stuff because I just know that \u2014\u2014\u00a0painkillers, there can potentially be a downfall to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The severity of Couples\u2019 back pain has ebbed and flowed, but when it has been at its most persistent, he said Monday, it has affected his mood. \u201cI used to snap at everyone,\u201d Couples said. \u201cFelt like someone was tapping me on the back all day long. After eight to 10 hours, you just can\u2019t take it. It\u2019s like a toothache.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pain became so bad in 2011 that Couples couldn\u2019t sleep and reportedly was whispering to friends<\/a> that he might be done with competitive golf. Drastic times called for . . . a trip to Dusseldorf, Germany, where Couples underwent a treatment called Orthokine therapy, which involves doctors creating an anti-inflammatory serum with the patient\u2019s own blood. The procedure brought Couples relief \u2014\u00a0for a while, anyway. \u201cI am sleeping,\u201d he said a few months later. But the thing with chronic pain is it\u2019s chronic. All you can do is manage it the best you can. Enjoy the more comfortable moments. Endure the uncomfortable ones. <\/p>\n

Couples was asked Monday what he\u2019d tell Woods if he could offer his old friend a word of counsel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d tell him I love him,\u201d Couples said, \u201cand things can always get better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUGUSTA, Ga. \u2014\u00a0Fred Couples knows something about pain. For nearly half of his 66 years he has battled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-587231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}