Fred Couples still has one of the most silky swings and can make a golf ball yo-yo next to the flag practically on order. But make speeches in front of a room of people? Not his thing.
“I’m very shy,” said couples Seattle Times Before receiving a life production prize Thursday of the Seattle Sports Commission at the Seattle Convention Center Summit Building. “There will be 1,200 people here, and it’s a lot to try and impress.”
The couples of 65, winner of 15 PGA Tour titles, including the Masters of 1992, and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, made a hook while the organizers invited Jim Nantz de CBS to transform the acceptance of couples into a kind of cat in a way between two old friends.
“There is no speech, it’s a chatter,” said couples before receiving the Royal Brougham Sports Legend Award. “All I have to do is listen to it and say, yes, you are right.”
Nantz flew to Emerald City to be next to his former roommate for his last price (just like another teammate, the longtime swing instructor Paul Marchand). Nantz and the couples gathered at the University of Houston in 1977. It would never be something else that I will be there, “said Nantz Seattle Times.
“It means a lot for him,” said Nantz, who also presented couples when he entered the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013. “He was so proud to be a kid Beacon Hill raised in the shadow of the city center.”
Couples is the recipient of this year of the Royal Brougham Sports Legend Award, who is awarded to an individual a whole life of success in sport and which illustrates the spirit of sport in the state of Washington. The previous winners of this prize include Ken Griffey Jr., Sue Bird, Gary Payton, Warren Moon and Elgin Baylor.
“Seattle is still in my mind,” said couples. โI am a child from Seattle in the soul. I think each of my friends from the PGA Tour knows it. ยปยป
The couples perfected his game as adolescent of Seattle at O’Dea high school and Jefferson Park Municipal. He won many local titles when he was still an amateur, including the male lover of Washington and the Washington Open in 1978. He was twice all-American collegee before becoming a pro in 1980. He was appointed player of the year of the PGA Tour in 1984 and 1996. He is still active on the PGA Tour champions.
“I think it is undoubtedly one of the most popular figures in the history of the game,” said Nantz about couples. “And I think you could build a case this evening when he is the most famous athlete ever left from Seattle.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Fred couples honored in Seattle, Jim Nantz gives an acceptance speech
