The most disheartening of the collapses was by Couples.

One of golf’s most popular players, fans were rooting for him to show a bit of immortality. He has one victory in the last eight years, at the 2003 Shell Open, and he threw away the Nissan Open earlier this year when he had an 8-footer for the lead at No. 13 and left it short, then bogeyed three of the last four holes.

But this was the 20th anniversary of Nicklaus’ victory for the aged, his sixth — and final — Masters title at age 46. What better way to celebrate it than to have Couples win it, replacing Nicklaus as oldest champion by about three months?

If the ages weren’t omen enough, Couples’ Masters badge this week — assigned in order of player registration — was No. 86, same as the year of Nicklaus’ famous charge.

“When I teed off,” Couples said, “I was, in my mind, one of the four, five, six guys that had a chance to win.”

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For a while, it looked as if he just might. A birdie on the first hole pulled him even with Mickelson, and they went birdie-for-birdie on the seventh. He fell a stroke behind on the next hole, then three-putted for a bogey on 11.

He looked as if he might sink even further when his tee shot landed about a foot from the creek on the par-5 13th. But he recovered beautifully, dropping a four-footer for a birdie for his best putt of the day.

“The back nine, we were telling each other, ‘Let’s make some birdies,”’ Couples said.

His hopes died on the next hole. Needing only to make a four-footer for a birdie, he pushed it about five feet past the hole. His par putt rolled right on by, too, and it looked as if he had lost all touch on the greens.

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“I’m 46. I don’t really feel 46. I didn’t hit the ball like I was 46,” Couples said. “I putted like I was 66. I’m beating myself up, but it just really came down to one minor, minor casualty and that was on 14.

“I mean, I can live and die with three-putting and some of the other stuff,” he added. “But that really is a putt where it would have been a heck of a lot more fun to make and see what would have happened.”

Instead, the green jacket in his size was put back in the closet. Along with those of the other champions.

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