57-year-old Fred Couples in contention again at the Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Sam Partners isn't involved about 57.

Not when he's capturing 70 on another complicated day at Augusta Nationwide.

Showing he can still keep up with the children, Partners put himself in argument Weekend at the website of his only significant competition a quarter-century ago.

Not that it should be amazing to anyone.

The 57-year-old has been a evergreen opposition at the Experts since becoming qualified for the PGA Trip Winners. Partners led after the starting circular truly. He was on top at the halfway factor this year. He was second going to the end of the week in 2013.

Now, after seated out a a season ago because of a serious returning issue, he's lengthy ago again in that acquainted identify again — just three photos off control after publishing a 2-under-par ranking, even as another amount of circulating gusts of wind created lifestyle unpleasant for a lot of young gamers.

"I really know the course very well," Partners said. "I think that my age is still OK, because I can generate it far enough. I'm not lengthy like I used to be on this type of course, but it still performs where I can achieve a lot of these veggies with smaller groups to create the football quit around the gap."

Couples created six birdies, the last of them at No. 18 to shut his circular with a succeed.

After a 272-yard generate provided him a look at the natural around the massive Atlanta pines, he trapped his strategy 2 legs from the banner for a tap-in. It remaining him at 1-under 143 through 36 gaps, within stunning range of an online insurance cause package composed of Sergio Garcia, Rickie Fowler, Charley Hoffman and Johnson Pieters.

That last gap was especially essential because it came after back-to-back bogeys.

"I had what I believed was really excellent range, and the only issue was that I created two really bad bogeys in a row," Partners said. "I was type of considering, 'Where do I want to hit this?' It hit in the smooth aspect of the natural and went up the mountain and was circling returning toward the gap, and the audience was type of going insane. Excellent to complete with a birdie."

The task for Partners is to keep it going through the end of the week. Over his last eight Weekend and Weekend units at Augusta, he's damaged par once. That's wonder, no one in their 50s has won a significant tennis competition.

But it's obvious Partners still knows his way around location, where encounter is such a large aspect.

"I'm a opponent, so I like to believe in myself," he said. "I've had a lot of excellent completes here, and i will keep battling with these people."

Can he win?

He's not prepared there.

Not yet anyway.

"I'm not going to be considering about about successful the competition until Weekend or the rear nine on Weekend," he said. "I've got a lengthy way to go before I be worried about that."

Follow John Newberry on Tweets at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His perform can be discovered at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry .