At the 90th Annual Sports Star of the Year Awards banquet, held Feb 27 in the new Summit building at the Seattle Convention Center, Fred Couples was honored as this year’s recipient of the Royal Brougham Sports Legend Award, which is given to an individual for a lifetime of achievement in sports and who exemplifies the spirit of sports in Washington state.
Couples was introduced on stage by renowned golf broadcaster Jim Nantz. Couples and Nantz were roommates while attending the University of Houston, and have been good friends ever since.
Because of Couples’ ties to Seattle, which are still strong, many of his childhood friends and future colleagues were in attendance at the banquet.
Previous recipients of this award include Guyle Fielder, Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Whittaker, Lou Piniella, Johnny O’Brien, Sue Bird, Doris Brown Heritage, Gary Payton, Warren Moon, Elgin Baylor, Bobo Brayton, Edgar Martinez, Bob Houbregs, Don James, and Marv Harshman. The SSC is proud to now include Fred Couples in this distinguished list.
Couples honed his game as a Seattle teenager at O’Dea High School and Jefferson Park Municipal (now called the Bill Wright Golf Complex). He won numerous local titles while still an amateur, including both the Washington Men’s Amateur and Washington Open in 1978.
He was a two-time college All-American before turning pro in 1980. He was named the PGA TOUR’s Player of the Year in 1984 and 1996. His crowning achievements were winning the 1992 Masters and the Players Championship in 1984 and 1996. With over 600 PGA events in his career and counting, Couples continues to play on the Champions Tour, including stops at the Club at Snoqualmie Ridge where he is a crowd favorite. In 2013, Couples was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Commonly referred to as “Washington’s ESPYs,” the annual awards show and gala is conducted by the Seattle Sports Commission and has expanded from a newspaper byline determining the 1935 Man of the Year to a broadcast-quality awards show and red-carpet gala.
