SCORESHEET

April 8th 2010, Augusta, Georgia, U.S.A.: Prior to Thursday, Fred Couples has held 18 first-round leads/co-leads on the PGA TOUR, three of which he converted into victory. His only first-round lead in a major was at the 1998 Masters (T2). His last first-round lead/co-lead was at the 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational (T64). Prior to that, the last time he held a first-round lead on TOUR was in 2003.

Couples (66) recorded the best round of his career at Augusta National Thursday. His previous best score at the Masters was a 67, which he recorded four times. One of his four 67s at the Masters came in 1992, when won his only Green Jacket.

Couples has won his last three starts on the Champions Tour. He lost by one stroke to Tom Watson in his only other Champions Tour start.

Only two of 14 first-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to victory on TOUR this season (Ryan Palmer and Dustin Johnson).

Couples, Bernhard Langer (T22) and Watson (T2) are 1-2-3, respectively, on the Champions Tour’s Charles Schwab Cup Standings. Between them, Couples, Langer and Watson have won all five of the Champions Tour individual stroke-play events this season. The other Champions Tour event this season was the Wendy’s Champions Skins Game, which was won by the team of Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson.

Ray Floyd, Craig Stadler and Fred Funk are the only players to win a Champions Tour event and PGA Tour event in the same season. Couples, Watson and Langer could join the list with a win this week. Couples, Sandy Lyle, Langer or Watson would become the oldest major champion in history if one was able to win the Green Jacket on Sunday. Currently, the oldest major champion is Julius Boros, who won the 1968 PGA Championship at 48 years, 4 months, 18 days.

Watson and Couples lead the field after the first round with 24 putts. On the Champions Tour, Watson (26.50) is ranked No. 1 in putts per round, while Couples is No. 3 (27.44)

Sam Snead is the oldest winner of any PGA TOUR event. Snead was 52 years, 10 months, 8 days when he won the 1965 Greater Greensboro Open.

Watson, the oldest player in the field, shot a 5-under 67 to stand T2 after the first round with his son Michael caddying. The 67 matches his career best at Augusta National.

Watson made his first 21 cuts at the Masters from 1975 to 1995. He has missed 12 of his last 14 cuts at Augusta National dating back to his first missed cut here in 1996. Watson last made the cut at the Masters in 2002 when he finished T40.

Although not officially the oldest player to lead after any round of a PGA TOUR event, Snead was the third-round co-leader at the 1974 Quad Cities Open at the age of 62 years, 1 month, 17 days. Jack Nicklaus remains the oldest first-round leader/co-leader at the Masters (53 years at 1993 Masters).

Watson’s last first-round lead/co-lead was at the 2003 U.S. Open (T28). His last lead of any kind was after the second and third rounds of last year’s British Open.

Every time Watson has shot 68 or better at the Masters, he has not finished worse than seventh (12 times).

Three of Watson’s last five rounds (2009 British Open – 65-70-71-72) in a major have been at par-or-better. In his four majors prior to last years British Open, Watson did not break 74.

Since 1934, only 10 players have won the week before winning a major. Anthony Kim (T7), No. 2 in the FedExCup standings, is trying to add his name to the list after winning the Shell Houston Open last week. The most recent to do so is Tiger Woods, who in 2007 won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational followed by PGA Championship.

With his fifth-place finish in 2009 and T5 in 2008, Phil Mickelson has 12 top-10s in 16 career professional starts at the Masters, including two wins and 10 top-10s in his last 11 trips. Mickelson has only missed one cut in 17 starts (professional and amateur) at Augusta.

Mickelson (67/T2) turned in his best first round score at the Masters since he had a 67 in 2001 (3rd). Mickelson’s last 67 or better in a major was at the 2005 PGA Championship when he had a first round 67 and went on to win.

Y.E. Yang (67/T2) has never held a lead/co-lead after any round at a major. In his two previous appearances at the Masters, Yang missed the cut last year and finished T30 in 2007.

Lee Westwood (67/T2) has finished in third-place in two straight majors coming into the Masters (T3-2009 PGA Championship and T3-2009 British Open). It is the best back-to-back finish for him in majors. Westwood has five career top-5 finishes in the majors. Westwood’s previous best position after the first-round at major was T3 at the 2005 U.S. Open (T33) and 2008 Masters (T11).

David Toms (69) recorded only his second round in the 60s in 37 career rounds at the Masters. Coming into this week, Toms had 17 rounds in the 60s in 140 career rounds in the majors dating back to 1996.

Jim Furyk (80) recorded only his seventh round at 80 or worse in his TOUR career. His last round in the 80s came at the 2002 U.S. Open. Three of Furyk’s previous six rounds in the 80s came at the U.S. Open, one came at the Western Open, one at the Canadian Open and one at the Deposit Guaranty Golf.

International players (Trevor Immelman in 2008 and Angel Cabrera in 2009) have claimed back-to-back Masters wins for the first time since Jose Maria Olazabal (1999) and Vijay Singh (2000) won in back-to-back years. There is only one occasion when International players have won more than two consecutive Masters Tournaments. From 1988 to 1991, International players won four straight titles at the Masters (1988-Sandy Lyle, 1989-Nick Faldo, 1990-Nick Faldo and 1991-Ian Woosnam).

Immelman (69) had just his second round in the 60s at a major since winning the Masters in 2008 (15 rounds). Cabrera is attempting to become the first player since Woods in 2002 to successfully defend his title at the Masters. In history, only Woods, Nicklaus (1965-66) and Faldo (1989-90) have won back-to-back Masters titles.