Fred Couples had Super Bowl tickets

— -- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Fred Couples bought two tickets to the Super Bowl six months ago on a hunch that his hometown  Seattle Seahawks would make it to the game.

Birdies on his final two holes Friday at the Dubai Desert Classic mean he'll have to watch the game in a U.A.E. airport.

Couples, 54, the 1992 Masters champion, made the cut with his late flurry at Emirates Golf Club, meaning he's giving up his seat on the 50-yard line.

"Call me stupid,'' said Couples, who raised the "12th Man" flag before the Seahawks' "Monday Night Football" game against the Saints on Dec. 2.

The winner of the Dubai Desert Classic in 1995, Couples came back as part of the tournament's 25-year anniversary celebration. Given his chronic back problems, Couples was unsure if he was going to play.

But he's fared well, shooting 3-under 141 for two rounds and was in a tie for 44th.

"I tried to bogey [No. 16] and I did. I tried to bogey 13, the par-5, and I did,'' Couples quipped. "I just couldn't butcher enough holes.''

Couples said he's never been to a Super Bowl and figured going to the game would be a nice consolation for missing the cut. He paid "a lot of money'' for the tickets and had a backup plan to sell one of them should he make the cut.

But Couples was ready if he didn't. He had checked out flights from Dubai to New York and was prepared to make the trip if he failed to advance to the weekend.

But the 15-time PGA Tour winner said his goal was to play on.

"There's no way I would ever not try,'' Couples said. "So I'll watch it on TV, that's the next best thing.''

The problem is, he'll be watching the game on Monday morning in the U.A.E. The start time here is 3:30 a.m.

Couples, who plays mostly on the Champions Tour and now lives in Los Angeles, will play the PGA Tour's Northern Trust Open in two weeks.

In April, he is expected to make his 30th appearance in the Masters, where he has finished in the top 15 each of the past four years.