AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Fred Couples is playing the Masters for the 41st time, and he can't remember ever hitting into the water on the par-5 15th with a wedge in his hand — twice in a row.
It wrecked the surprisingly great round of the 1992 Masters champion — a quadruple-bogey 9 on what traditionally is the third-easiest hole at Augusta National. And this had nothing to do with the age of the 66-year-old Couples.
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Brooks Koepka hits from the bunker on the 15th hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Jose Maria Olazabal, of Spain, hits from the fairway on the second hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Jon Rahm, of Spain, hits from the fairway on the 13th hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Robert MacIntyre, of Scotland, hits from the fairway on the 13th hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Fred Couples chips to the green on the 10th hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Robert MacIntyre also put two in the drink and made a 9. So did another former Masters champion, Danny Willett.
It was the first time since at least three scores of 9 were recorded on one hole at the Masters since 1998, when there were three quadruple bogeys on the 15th hole in the second round.
“I laid up perfect. I had 90 yards so I had to carry it 85 (yards) and 5 (yards),” Couples said. “Sometimes when you don’t try and hit a good shot you forget what the hell you’re doing. I have no excuse. I just didn’t hit them far enough.”
MacIntyre, the 29-year-old Scot, went for the green in two and came up well short, and he knew it when he hit it. His next with a wedge came up short. His sixth shot went over the green, and he chipped on and took two putts.
Willett, the 38-year-old from England who won the Masters in 2016, was way left off the tee, pitched back to the fairway and put two wedges in the water short of the green. He finally got on the green and two-putted from about 12 feet.
There also were four double bogeys. It added to a scoring average over 5.121 for the day, making it the only par 5 to play over par.
Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm are the top two players from LIV Golf, both expected to contend at the Masters. Their primary objective now is not to leave.
Rahm hit a shocker of an 8-iron that turned an easy birdie chance into a double bogey on the par-5 13th hole. The rest of his day wasn't all that great to begin with, and the two-time major champion wound up with a 78.
“It’s going to be a very much more uphill battle right now, but I’m going to have to come out (Friday) and most likely post something in the 60s to have a chance to make the cut and give myself a chance on the weekend,” Rahm said.
DeChambeau took three to get out of a bunker on the par-4 11th and took triple bogey. He shot 76.
But it wasn't just them. LIV Golf has 10 players in the field, and none broke par. Sergio Garcia was the only player at even-par 72, while Carlos Ortiz brought up the rear with an 80. The average score of the 10 players from LIV was 75.3.
Fred Couples was on the leaderboard at 2-under par, right in the mix with stars more than half his age, when the 66-year-old Masters champion started slipping toward the end.
And then his round completely unraveled.
After his 9 on the 15th, Couples' tee shot on No. 16 also rolled into the water, and he made double bogeys on that hole and the 17th.
“Just have to go do the same thing but maybe not finish 10 over par on two holes or whatever the hell I did,” he said after signing for a 78.
Couples still stopped to discuss what went wrong.
“At any age you still want to hit shots,” he said. “It happens. I’m not going to run. If I was 35 and did that I would be going bananas on everybody. You, you, you. And I would’ve ran right by and told you to get out of my life.”
Jose Maria Olazabal also was 2 under on the back nine earlier in the day when he collapsed, though it wasn't quite as drastic. He failed to get up-and-down behind the 14th green for his first bogey. He hit wedge into the water on the par-5 15th and made double bogey. And he took bogey on the 16th for a 74.
Still, the combination of his early tee time and two birdies in the first three holes meant he was atop the leaderboard for a bit.
“Everybody was in shock, yeah,” Olazabal said.
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour after four years with Saudi-funded LIV Golf.
Tom Watson thinks he should be on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Watson said Thursday the PGA Tour reneged on its promise to ban players who left for LIV. The PGA Tour brought him back under a one-time program for major champions dating to 2022 with a few stipulations, such as being ineligible for equity grants for five years, not playing $20 million signature events unless they qualify and not having access to bonus money this year.
“I thought the LIV players, when they left, they were supposed to be banned for life. If I was commissioner, that’s what I would do,” Watson said after hitting the honorary tee shot with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
“I’d say if you’re finished with your contract with LIV Golf, if you want to play the PGA Tour again, you must play the Korn Ferry Tour for a year to qualify for it,” Watson said. “They saw it differently. ... When the players left for LIV, I think it was basically over. They chose to go for the money, which is fine, but to return to the tour I thought was a nonstarter. But apparently it’s not.”
Ryan Gerard is among 22 newcomers to the Masters and he had more nerves than he imagined. He has played in three U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship. This was just another major, until it wasn't.
“Dude, I was so much more nervous than I thought I was going to be,” Gerard said after making only six pars in his even-par 72. “I was like, ‘Oh, it’s not that bad I've played in majors before. This isn't too crazy.'”
But he arrived on the first tee a little earlier, meaning he waited a little longer. And then Keegan Bradley hit his tee shot well to the right, and that got in his head.
“I just smother-hooked it in the left trees, so I'm glad I didn't take it off someone's forehead,” he said. “Yeah, it was definitely more nerve-wracking. Probably the fastest club speed I'll hit all year.”
He had five bogeys on the front nine. He also had four birdies. Gerard was asked to give his first Masters round a letter grade.
“I give the front nine an ‘F.' I would probably give the back nine an ‘A,'” he said. “Overall, a ‘C,’ which would get a degree most places. So I'll take it.”
AP Sports Writer Noah Trister contributed to this report.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Brooks Koepka hits from the bunker on the 15th hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Jose Maria Olazabal, of Spain, hits from the fairway on the second hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Jon Rahm, of Spain, hits from the fairway on the 13th hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Robert MacIntyre, of Scotland, hits from the fairway on the 13th hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Fred Couples chips to the green on the 10th hole during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — In a potential boost to Middle East ceasefire efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he authorized direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible” aimed at disarming Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants and establishing relations between the neighbors.
The two countries have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Netanyahu later stressed that there was no ceasefire between them. In a video statement, he said Israel will keep striking Hezbollah until security is restored in northern Israel.
There was no immediate response from Lebanon. But Israel-Lebanon negotiations were expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the matter.
The prospect of talks appeared to bolster the tentative ceasefire in the Iran war that has staggered under the weight of Israel’s bombardment of Beirut, Tehran’s continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and uncertainty over whether talks can find common ground.
However later Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the ceasefire, writing on his social media platform: “Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz.”
“That is not the agreement we have!” Trump wrote.
Netanyahu's authorization of negotiations with Lebanon came amid disagreement over whether the ceasefire deal included a pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and a day after Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began Feb. 28.
Israel has fought multiple wars and launched several major invasions of Lebanon over the years, most recently sending in troops last month in response to Hezbollah fire on Israel’s northern border communities.
The launch of direct peace talks is a significant achievement, though reaching an agreement will be difficult after decades of hostilities, Hezbollah’s continued presence and longstanding disagreements over the countries' shared land border.
The talks in Washington are expected to be handled on the American side by the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, and on the Israeli side by the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, according to the person familiar with the planning.
It was not immediately clear who would represent Lebanon. The timing and location of the talks was first reported by Axios.
After declaring victory with the ceasefire announcement, both Iran and the U.S. have appeared to apply pressure on each other. Semiofficial news agencies in Iran suggested forces have mined the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil that Tehran has closed. Trump warned that U.S. forces would hit Iran harder than before if it did not fulfill the agreement.
Trump expressed concern again Thursday over reports that Iran's military was charging tolls on tankers seeking to pass through the strait. "They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!” he wrote on social media.
Questions also remained over what will happen to Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium at the heart of tensions, how and when normal traffic will resume through the strait, and what happens to Iran’s ability to launch future missile attacks and support armed proxies in the region.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a message on Telegram that Iran’s decision to accept a ceasefire “is not a sign of weakness but a way to solidify Iran’s proud victories."
Despite disputes over the ceasefire, it appears to have halted weeks of missile and drone attacks by Iran on its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel, with no new launches reported Thursday. There were no reports of strikes by the U.S. or Israel targeting Iran.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned in a social media post Thursday that continued Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon would bring “explicit costs and STRONG responses.”
Qalibaf has been discussed as a possible negotiator who could meet U.S. Vice President JD Vance this weekend in Islamabad. The White House has said Vance would lead the delegation for talks starting Saturday.
Iran had said Israel's ongoing attacks on Hezbollah were violating the ceasefire agreement. Netanyahu and Trump have said they were not.
Trump said Thursday that he has asked Netanyahu to dial back the strikes in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s health ministry said more than 300 people were killed and more than 1,100 wounded Wednesday by Israeli strikes on central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon that Israel said targeted Hezbollah, which joined the war in support of Tehran.
Early Friday morning, Israel’s military said it struck approximately 10 launchers in Lebanon that had fired rockets toward northern Israel on Thursday.
Israel also said Thursday it killed Ali Yusuf Harshi, an aide to Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem. Hezbollah did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Semiofficial news agencies in Iran published a chart Thursday suggesting the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard put sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz during the war — a message that may be intended to pressure the U.S.
The chart, released by the ISNA news agency and Tasnim, showed a large circle marked “danger zone” in Farsi over the route ships take through the strait, through which 20% of all traded oil and natural gas once passed.
Only a trickle of ships have transited since the war began after several were attacked, and Iran threatened to hit any that it deemed connected to the U.S. or Israel. Ships appeared to continue to avoid the strait even after the ceasefire.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Saeed Khatibzadeh, told the BBC that his country will allow ships to pass through the strait in accordance with “international norms and international law” once the U.S. ends its “aggression” in the Middle East and Israel stops attacking Lebanon.
The head of the United Arab Emirates’ major oil company, Sultan al-Jaber, said some 230 ships loaded with oil were waiting to get through the strait and must be allowed "to navigate this corridor without condition.”
The strait’s de facto closure has caused oil prices to skyrocket — affecting the cost of gasoline, food and other basics far beyond the Middle East. The spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, was around $98 Thursday, up about 35% since the war began.
The fate of Iran’s missile and nuclear programs — which the U.S. and Israel sought to eliminate in going to war — was unclear. The U.S. insists Iran must never be able to build nuclear weapons and wants to remove Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which could be used to build them. Iran insists its program is peaceful.
Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. would work with Iran to remove the uranium, buried in last year's U.S. and Israeli strikes, though Iran did not confirm that. In one version of the ceasefire deal that Iran published, it said it would be allowed to continue enrichment.
The chief of Iran’s nuclear agency, Mohammad Eslami, said Thursday that protecting Tehran’s right to enrich uranium is “necessary” for any ceasefire talks.
Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press writers Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong, Zeke Miller, Matthew Lee and Will Weissert in Washington, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Kareem Chehayeb and Hussein Malla in Beirut contributed to this report.
Men inspect the damage to their home destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Lebanese civil defense workers inspect the rubble at the site of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese civil defense workers search for victims in the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man gathers his belongings from his home, which has been destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A government supporter weeps during a mourning ceremony marking the 40th day since the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the U.S. and Israel strikes in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Government supporters walk past a billboard depicting Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei as they gather to mark the 40th day since the killing of his father, slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A sign for a roadside hotel is seen on Road 2 near Golhahr, Iran, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
People inspect the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Government supporters gather to mark the 40th day since the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A rescue worker extinguishes burning cars at the site of an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Smoke rises following several Israeli airstrikes in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Ali, 4, holds a toy horse next to the tent his family uses as a shelter after fleeing Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Government supporters gather ahead of the funeral procession for Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, head of intelligence for Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
FILE - Two police officers walk in front of an anti-U.S. billboard depicting American aircraft being caught by Iranian armed forces in a fishing net beneath the words in Farsi, "The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed, The entire Persian Gulf is our hunting ground," in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
