Couples pulls away for Champions Tour win

Fred Couples won his third straight Champions Tour start, closing with a course-record 10-under 62 on Sunday for a two-stroke victory over Corey Pavin in the Cap Cana Championship.

The 50-year-old Couples, the first player in Champions Tour history to win three of his first four tournaments, had a 21-under 195 total on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Punta Espada course. Couples is the eighth Champions Tour player to win three straight starts, leaving him one behind the tour record set by Chi Chi Rodriguez in 1987.

"It was an unbelievable day," said Couples, who made five consecutive birdies from the second hole. "The first six or seven holes, there was an eagle, birdies and putts going in from everywhere."

Pavin shot a 66 and finished second at 197, losing the lead after his second shot hit a greenside sprinkler head and bounced 60 yards over the 14th green.

Russ Cochran (67) finished in third at 202, a stroke ahead of Nick Price, Bernhard Langer and Tom Pernice.

When Couples joined the Champions Tour this year, most predicted success befitting a 15-time PGA Tour winner and Masters champion.

Judging from his first four events, those expectations were right.

Couples earned $240,000 here and raised his yearly winnings to $931,000 in four events _ leading the money list by a margin of $431,000.

Couples began the day two strokes behind Pavin and one behind Nick Price.

Pavin lost the lead for good after the 14th hole.

"I did a lot of things that were very good out there today," said Pavin, who made an eagle with a chip-in at the par-5 sixth hole to tie for the lead, five birdies and one bogey, "and one bad break does not make a tournament, but it doesn't help any."

Couples, Price and Pavin lit up a defenseless course for the third day in a row.

In the opening nine holes, they made 11 birdies and an eagle.

Couples ran off five more birdies in a row from the 11-15 and maintained a one-shot lead over Pavin when both birdied the par-5 15th. Of his birdies, only one came from outside 30 feet and eight came from inside 15 or less.

A final birdie at the par-4 17th, coupled with three Pavin pars to end the round, signaled a two-stroke victory for Couples.

"I had a great stretch of golf in 1992," said Couples, who won three tournaments, including the Masters, in a two month period then. "But I must say that these four weeks on the Champions Tour I'm not missing many shots."

Couples plays next week at the Shell Houston Open and then the Masters the following week.