Matt Kuchar's road to the top
Matt Kuchar won more money than anyone else this year on the PGA Tour. His 11 top-10 finishes on the season give him two more than any other player. He played his way onto the U.S. Ryder
Cup team for the upcoming matches in October, a first for him.
And he goes into the Tour Championship this week at East Lake in Atlanta, the final event of the PGA Tour play-offs, ranked number-one in FedEx Cup points with a very realistic chance
of winning the FedEx Cup and the $10m payout.
Given all this, it is probably safe to designate 2010 as Kuchar’s “breakout season.”
The unassuming 32-year-old from Winter Park, Florida seems to always have a smile on his face, endearing himself to fans at every tournament he plays. He’s known as one of the friendliest
players on tour as well as one of the most talented. Everybody knew he was capable of having a year like this, including Bruce Heppler, his old coach at Georgia Tech.
"Matt has realized that, 'Hey, I can only do the things that I can do,'" said Heppler. "I think that's when it changed. When he realized he can only be Matt, that made a difference. He's
worked hard to become the player he is."
But Kuchar’s road to where he sits now atop the PGA Tour didn’t come without some struggles and setbacks.
Many fans likely remember Kuchar introducing himself to the golf world by finishing as low amateur at both the 1998 Masters and U.S. Open at the young age of 20. Or at the very least,
they remember his broad smile and his laid-back “just happy to be here” attitude.
But Kuchar enjoyed his share of success years before these tournaments.
As a college player, Kuchar was an exceptional talent. He graduated from Georgia Tech, which is coincidentally only a 20 minute drive from East Lake, where he was a two-time first-team
All-American on their golf team.
In 1997, he defeated Joel Kribel to win the U.S. Amateur, America’s most prestigious amateur golf tournament. To put this in perspective, some past champions of the event include the likes
of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Jack Nicklaus.
And a year later, Kuchar won the Fred Haskins award for the country’s top collegiate golfer.
After turning pro in 2000, Kuchar won the Honda Classic in 2002, his first PGA Tour event. But the next few years would be a struggle for the man affectionately known as “Kuch” by his
friends, family, and fans.
Seven long years would eventually pass between his first and second PGA Tour victories.
In 2005, he didn’t earn enough money to earn his playing card for the 2006 season. After spending a year on the Nationwide Tour, sort of the minor-league of golf, Kuchar played solidly,
winning the Henrico County Open and finishing 10th on the money list, good enough to return to the pro circuit in 2007.
Even though he played solid golf in 2007 and 2008, finishing 155th and 70th on the money list respectively, he was still chasing his second win on tour. He accomplished this when he beat
Vaughn Taylor in a play-off to capture the Turning Stone Resort Championship in 2009.
And this season, in which he leads both the money list and the FedEx Cup point standings, Kuchar is no longer in danger of losing his tour card. Far from it.
After ten top-10s without a win, he finally broke through at the Barclays, the first event of the PGA Tour play-offs. Thanks to strong finishes (T11 and T3) in the second two play-off
tournaments, Kuchar finds himself at the very top going into the last event of the year.
In addition, he is a strong contender in the wide open race for PGA Tour Player of the Year.
So for those who believe that Kuchar’s rise came out of nowhere, a closer look at his entire golfing career puts it in perspective. He has always been one of the top golfers at every stage
of his career.
He is deservedly at the top of the golfing world.
Kuchar should have the golfing equivalent of “home-court advantage” this week at the Tour Championship, having gone to school in Atlanta. Chants of “Kuuuuuuuuch!” should fill the air.
And he certainly deserves the attention.
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