Golf: Couples, Montgomerie inducted into Hall of Fame

St. Augustine, Fla. • About the only thing Fred Couples and Colin Montgomerie had in common was a golf swing good enough to trust for a lifetime.

Couples became the first American to reach No. 1 in the world and won the Masters by a blade of grass that kept his ball from trickling into Rae's Creek. Montgomerie found fame on the European Tour, where he won the Order of Merit a record seven times in a row, though he never won a major, a glaring hole in his credentials.

Couples sauntered down the fairways, the essence of cool. Montgomerie walked with his head down, so intense he never looked like he was having much fun.

They shared the stage Monday night when both were inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, along with three others in the Class of 2013.

The others were former U.S. Open champion and broadcaster Ken Venturi, former European Tour executive director Ken Schofield and two-time British Open champion and architect Willie Park Jr.

That brings the Hall of Fame to 146 members.

Couples — who won 15 PGA Tour tournaments, including the 1992 Masters — talked about his childhood in Seattle, when his mother gave him $5 a day in the summer to play at Jefferson Park. He couldn't afford to buy a glove, and Couples still plays without one.

"Thanks for taking a kid from Seattle and putting him in the Hall of Fame," Couples said as his chin buckled. "This is the coolest night of my life."