Fred Couples weary of Burk's protesting

Admittedly not the most politically active golfer, Fred Couples remains fairly certain that having a woman in a green jacket will not greatly change life on the planet.

"I couldn't care less if they let 20 ladies in there," the 1992 Masters champion said Wednesday.

Squarely anti-Martha Burk originally, Couples drifted at least toward the middle at some point last year, thinking, "Maybe she was on the right track."

Now he's back to his original stance, largely because of the way Burk has presented herself recently.

"A couple of days ago when she talked about the war and all the ladies that are fighting over there, that took a lot of the sting away from the whole thing," Couples said after his BellSouth Classic pro-am round at the TPC at Sugarloaf. "When you start talking about the effect it has on the Masters and the people around Augusta, as a player who has been there 16 or 17 years, I think it's a little bit ridiculous to just keep pounding and pounding it down their throats."

Does Couples think the protests will affect the Masters next week?

"No, I think it's the greatest tournament in the world," he said. "I think they will still have 50,000 people out there screaming and yelling and having fun. . . What goes on outside the gates, I don't think it's going to bother one player. . . I think after a day of seeing it [the protesters], you'll say, 'Aw, no big deal.' Then we'll play golf."

On the subject of golf, Couples is coming off a tie for 10th last Sunday at the Players Championship.

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