A true original comes through

Fred Couples saves geezer golf in Houston area with Sunday 63

Fred Couples made Champions Tour golf in The Woodlands matter with his 63 in thefinal round.
Even free admission couldn't help Arnold Palmer draw anything close to what JackNicklaus did for a lunch in Houston.
Photo by Pete Baatz
But Couples changed apathy into buzz by going 9-under on Sunday.

The Houston area's Senior Tour event — and it doesn't matter how many marketing wizards teamed up to rebrand it as the Champions Tour years ago, it will forever be senior golf — did just about everything right.

It put the tournament out in The Woodlands, where the older guys who follow these 50-and-over former stars actually play golf themselves. It offered free admission, free parking, free shuttle rides ... it did just about everything but pay folks to attend. The organizers brought in the biggest guest star they could find — none other than Arnold Palmer.

And still, nobody really cared.

When the 81-year-old Palmer — one of the greatest golfers of all time — hit the opening shot in the Thursday afternoon pro-am for the Administaff Small Business Classic about 100 people who'd gotten in for free milled around the hole. Just two days earlier, more than 800 who paid big money turned out to hear Jack Nicklaus talk about football and a little golf in a big ballroom at the Hilton Americas-Houston.

Now, Nicklaus is Nicklaus, The Woodlands is not downtown Houston and Jack was talking for University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the No. 1-rated cancer hospital in the United States. Yet, even allowing for all that, the difference couldn't have been more striking.

People just weren't into seeing the old guys try and relive their days of athletic relevancy.

Until Fred Couples went crazy on Sunday afternoon.

The 50-year-old Couples — who only became eligible for pro senior golf this year, who's still good enough to be in contention in the Masters on Sunday — dropped a 63 on his stunned contemporaries at Woodlands Country Club. OK, they're not really his contemporaries. Fred Couples playing the Champions Tour would be like Barry Bonds deciding to hit in his local Senior Softball league. It's Man against really old boys.

But a 63 is a 63. A 63 would be impressive in a Sunday Social at the country club. Couples went 7-under over the final eight holes to win his fourth geezer golf tourney of the season and a $255,000 check. His number on the back nine? A 29.

That's just silly good.

Suddenly, you started hearing about The Woodlands' Administaff Small Business Classic on national sports shows. All because of Freddie. Even at 50, Couples carries more charisma than a fleet of the PGA Tour's flawlessly-programmed, golf-academy-produced twentysomethings. When Freddie shoots a 63, it reverberates.

Couples chose to play in The Woodlands rather than the more prestigious AT&T Championship in San Antonio next weekend because of his ties to the area where he went to school (Couples' notoriously creaky back still isn't to the point where he's going to tax it with back-to-back tournaments). Couples, the former Cougar, still loves Houston and he embraces any chance to play near where many of his buddies still live.

And on Sunday, he gave Houston's senior golf event the one thing it desperately needed all along — a real star.

With that eagle and every birdie in that colossal close, Freddie became a one-man marketing plan. If the Small Business Classic decides to charge for admission next year — after two straight years of letting everyone in for free — you can credit (or blame) Freddie.

The tournament that's done everything right still needed the right champion.

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in this corner

Premier Japanese women's wrestling league performs in Houston this weekend

Two Japanese women wrestlers compete in a ring. One is stomping in the other with both feet.

Photo courtesy of Tokyo Joshi

Hard-hitting women's wrestling for two nights in Houston

For the first time ever, one of Japan's premier women's wrestling promotions, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, will be touring Texas, with a two-night stay in Houston this week.

"Bringing TJPW to Texas reflects Tokyo Story’s broader strategy," a Tokyo Story representative writes in an email. "As a Japan-inspired toy and event company, we see major Southwest cities — especially in Texas — as prime for the growth of Asian pop culture. Houston, Dallas, and others are becoming more diverse, culturally curious, and open to new entertainment formats. This isn’t a one-off stop — it’s part of a long-term push to bring Japan’s creativity to cities with eager audiences. And we are making TJPW Live an annual event!"

The events happen on Thursday, July 10 and Friday, July 11 at POST Houston (401 Franklin). Tickets are available at TokyoStoryUSA.com.

TJPW split off from DDT Wrestling in 2012 as a sister promotion (or "league") that ran alongside its male counterpart before becoming its own entity in 2015. In that time, they've launched the career of international superstars like Yuka Sakazaki and Mina Shirakawa (both currently signed to All Elite Wrestling in America), as well as hosting non-Japanese guest grapplers like Thunder Rosa.

The fighting is excellent and often brutal, but TJPW is also known for its playfulness. Matches embrace anime-like absurdity, such as having a wrestler work in a giant panda mascot costume. The promoters are hoping to one day partner with Texas truck stop icon Buc-ee's for a more mascot shenanigans. Many of the women also perform in J-pop girl groups on of their wrestling duties.

On Night 1, strike specialist Miyu Yamashita will take on Maki Itoh, known for her flamboyant style and high risk maneuvers. Night 2 will feature much of the local guest talent, such as Houston's own Kaylia Capri (Reality of Wrestling) vs Yuki Arai in a singles bout, and Austin's Vert Vixen teaming with reigning TJPW tag champ Hyper Misao. Other Texans slated to appear ar Maya World, Alejandra Quintanilla, and Billie Starkz.

The last decade has seen a marked rise in the quality and prestige of women's wrestling in America, with WWE hosting all-women Royal Rumbles and stars like Rhea Ripley and "Timeless" Toni Storm becoming household names. Most major promotions now feature robust line-ups of Japanese women wrestlers, with some like Asuka and Iyo Sky becoming world champions.

For Japan, women's wrestling has a more consistent history of legitimacy going back decades, and the talent pool there is vast. TJPW branching out into Texas tours gives them a chance to showcase their wrestlers in the land that spawned legends like The Undertaker, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and the Von Erich Family.

"The response has been overwhelmingly positive," said the TJPW spokesperson. "Many who had never experienced joshi (women’s) wrestling before are discovering how entertaining, emotional, and uniquely captivating it is. Since announcing the Texas shows, we’ve received a flood of enthusiastic messages — not just from wrestling fans, but from people drawn to the theatricality, comedy, and creativity of TJPW. We've also heard from fans in other states asking us to bring the tour to their cities."