Nice start for Watson, Couples and seniors

A strange thing happened on Sunday.

I watched a Champions Tour event and actually got involved in what was happening. Admittedly, I ducked in and out of the telecast during timeouts in the Minnesota-New Orleans NFC Championship game but watching Tom Watson and Fred Couples trade birdies in Hawaii was fun to watch.

The success of the Champions Tour has always been about its stars. Nothing against the Keith Ferguses and Tom Jenkins of the world but put Freddie and Tom Terrific on the back nine battling against each other -- and holding a ridiculous number of putts -- and it's got my attention.

Maybe it was because of Couples, who seems too young to be a senior golfer, but he's always had a gentle way of pulling in fans. He makes golf look easy, even if it isn't.

It takes some getting used to those new skateboardish looking shoes he's wearing but Couples could be the best thing to hit the Champions Tour since the no-cut rule.

Watson, meanwhile, spent the afternoon being Tom Watson. He answered the birdies Freddie threw at him and made one more.

It was a nice start for Watson, for Couples and for the Champions Tour.

And it was nice to be pulled in to what they were doing.