Case Closed
by Brian Hewitt

With apologies to Inbee Park and Scott Piercy, winners Sunday in France and Canada, respectively, we begin this week’s columnette with Fred Couples.

It has been suggested that Freddie’s win at the British Senior in Scotland enhances his credentials for the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Is that really necessary?

Are there five players, still active, more “famous” than Fred Couples?

It’s a Hall of Fame, people.

This guy does clever TV commercials in fancy cars; escorts attractive women hither and yon; and has semi-revolutionized the golf footwear industry by switching to casual shoes you can wear on the course or to a backyard barbecue.

The only thing currently tougher than arguing against Couples’ case for Hall enshrinement is navigating the social networks by day without learning the Olympic gold medal winners in advance of the nightly tape-delayed broadcast.

But we digress.

At historic Turnberry, Couples staged a winning weekend comeback. Not bad for a guy with a bad back who dreads long plane rides and hates cool weather. Had to be the shoes.

At the Evian Masters, which becomes a women’s major next year, Park caught lightning in a bottle with her putter and held off late charges by Stacy Lewis and Natalie Gulbis, among others. Had to be the water.

And in Ontario, Scott Piercy outlasted William McGirt and Robert Garrigus, which meant he won’t be defending his title in Lake Tahoe this week because he just earned the last spot in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone in Ohio. Had to be the FedEx Cup points.