Couples in tears after first win in five years

Fred Couples earned an emotional win in front of thousands of adoring fans at the Houston Open on Sunday night, with birdies at four of the last five holes to end a five-year title drought.

The former world No 1 recorded a five-under-par 67 for a 72-hole total of 267, 21-under, and a four-stroke victory over his playing partner Mark Calcavecchia, Hank Kuehne and the Australian Stuart Appleby.

After closing the tournament with a 10-foot birdie putt, Couples accepted congratulations from Calcavecchia, then broke down in tears while thanking his wife, Thais, and his coach, Butch Harmon.

"I'm always emotional when nice things happen to nice people," he said. Couples had gone 87 starts without a victory, dating back to the 1998 Memorial.

He has 15 titles overall, including the 1984 and 1996 Players Championship and the 1992 Masters. "I haven't played really well in five years, and I worked hard on my game, and it meshed," Couples said. "And to win, it's a great bonus for [caddie] Joey LaCava and myself and my wife and his family, but I have a lot of people to thank. That's kind of what was going through my mind. Didn't get it out very well."

His win was worth over £500,000, which pushed Couples into the top 10 on the money list. He has not finished a season higher than 47th since 1998, when he was ninth. Couples, who is 12th on the all-time money list with over £9m, began the week ranked 77th.

Jay Haas – one of four fortysomethings in the top six – was fifth, five strokes off the pace on 272. Jeff Maggert finished sixth at 273, a shot lower than John Daly and Geoff Ogilvy of Australia.