Long one of the most popular golfers on the PGA Tour, Fred Couples has continued to enhance his reputation in this, his rookie season on the Champions Tour.

Nicknamed “Boom Boom” for his prodigious distance off the tee, Couples won three of his first four tournaments on the 50-and-over circuit. His only loss in that span came in his first tournament, in which he fell one stroke short of winner Tom Watson at January’s Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

The Seattle native is known best for his smooth swing and easygoing demeanor, and he has parlayed that into 15 career PGA Tour victories.

His best seasons came in 1991 and 1992, two years in which he won a total of five tournaments and twice was named the PGA Tour’s player of the year.

During that span he won the only major of his career, the 1992 Masters, beating Raymond Floyd by two shots. That tournament completed a stretch of six starts in which he won three times and finished in second place twice.

Couples has seemingly always saved his best golf for Augusta National.

He made the cut in 23 consecutive Masters, from his first appearance in 1983 through 2007, to tie the record set by Gary Player.

After missing the cut at Augusta in 2008 and 2009, a resurgent Couples this year finished alone in sixth place, seven strokes behind winner Phil Mickelson.

He has battled a balky back for much of his career, and since the 1998 season he has won only one PGA Tour event, the 2003 Shell Houston Open.

But after regaining his touch on the Champions Tour, Couples is playing better golf than he has in years. In addition to his three wins, he has finished in the top 10 in eight of 10 Champions Tour starts this season. He has also made four of six cuts on the PGA Tour.

— Zack Hall