Matt Kuchar

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Matt Kuchar

Kuchar in July 2008
Personal information
Full name Matthew Gregory Kuchar
Nickname Kuch
Born (1978-06-21) June 21, 1978 (age 34)
Winter Park, Florida, U.S.
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13.9 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence St. Simons Island, Georgia
Spouse Sybi Kuchar (m. 2003)
Children Cameron (b. 2007)
Carson (b. 2009)
Career
College Georgia Tech
Turned professional 2000
Current tour(s) PGA Tour
Professional wins 8
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 5
Web.com Tour 1
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament T3: 2012
U.S. Open T6: 2010
The Open Championship T9: 2012
PGA Championship T10: 2010
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour
leading money winner		 2010
Vardon Trophy 2010
Byron Nelson Award 2010

Matthew Gregory Kuchar (born June 21, 1978) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and formerly the Nationwide Tour. He has won five times on the PGA Tour, with these wins spanning over 11 years. He briefly enjoyed success in the early 2000s before suffering a slump where he struggled to maintain his playing status on the PGA Tour. He rejuvenated himself and built a new, one-plane swing from 2008 onward leading to improved results. He is renowned as one of the most consistent players on the tour, having earned close to $15 million in prize money and recorded 30 top-10 finishes between 2009-2012. This included finishing as the PGA Tour's leading money winner in 2010.

In May 2012, Kuchar won the The Players Championship, the flagship event of the PGA Tour, his biggest tournament victory to date.[1] As a result, he moved to a career high number five in the world rankings. He has spent over 40 weeks ranked inside the worlds top-10. In February 2013, Kuchar won his first World Golf Championship event, defeating Hunter Mahan in the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.[2]

Contents

Early career [edit]

Kuchar was born in Winter Park, Florida, and graduated from Seminole High School in Sanford in 1996. He then attended Georgia Tech in Atlanta, where he was a two-time first-team All-American on the golf team. He won the U.S. Amateur title in 1997. He received the Haskins Award in 1998 as the nation's top collegiate golfer, and was the low amateur at both The Masters and U.S. Open. He turned pro in 2000 after earning his bachelor's degree in management. One of Kuchar's teammates at Georgia Tech was future PGA Tour professional Bryce Molder.[3]

Professional career [edit]

Kuchar's first win on the PGA Tour came at the 2002 Honda Classic. A tough year in 2005 saw him win under $403,000 to finish 159th on the money list and lose his tour card. He failed to regain it at qualifying school and played on the Nationwide Tour in 2006. Kuchar won its Henrico County Open and finished tenth on the 2006 Nationwide money list and earned back his PGA Tour card for 2007. He retained his card for the next two seasons by finishing 115th on the money list in 2007 and 70th in 2008.

Seven years after his first PGA Tour win, Kuchar won for a second time during the 2009 Fall Series at the Turning Stone Resort Championship in a playoff over Vaughn Taylor that concluded on Monday because of the playoff being postponed due to darkness on the previous Sunday.[4]

On August 15, 2010, Kuchar made the U.S. Ryder Cup team by earning enough points to take the 8th, and last position, awarded on points. At the time Kuchar led the PGA Tour in top-10 finishes for the year, but had not won a tournament in 2010. The winless streak ended at The Barclays on August 29, 2010, which was played at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey; Kuchar defeated Martin Laird on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.[5]

Kuchar won the Vardon Trophy[6] and Byron Nelson Award in 2010 for lowest scoring average and the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Award for leading the money list.[7]

Kuchar started off 2011 well with three consecutive top-10 finishes in the first three weeks of the season. He finished T6 at the opening PGA Tour event, the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. The following week at the Sony Open in Hawaii, he played his way to a T5 finish and then at the Bob Hope Classic achieved a T7 finish.

In February 2011 Kuchar reached the semi-finals of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship where he suffered a 6&5 defeat by eventual champion Luke Donald. In the 3rd place playoff match Kuchar defeated fellow American Bubba Watson, 2&1. Previously during the week Kuchar had beaten Anders Hansen on the 22nd hole in round one, Bo Van Pelt in round two, Rickie Fowler in round three and Y. E. Yang at the quarter-final stage.

Kuchar finished tied for second at The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in June 2011 behind Steve Stricker.[8] This was his eighth top-10 finish of the season and took him to his highest ranking to date of world number six. Kuchar finished second at The Barclays, two strokes behind the winner, Dustin Johnson. The tournament was shortened to 54 holes due to Hurricane Irene. This finish moved him to second in the FedEx Cup standings. Kuchar and Gary Woodland combined to win the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in November.[9]

Kuchar had his best performance in a major championship at the 2012 Masters when he finished in a tie for third. Kuchar was tied for the lead on the back nine on Sunday, but bogeyed the par three 16th and finished two strokes back of Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen.

Kuchar won the biggest tournament of his career in May 2012 when he won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He shot a final round of 70 (two under par) to win by two strokes over Rickie Fowler, Martin Laird, Ben Curtis, and Zach Johnson. He entered the final round in the last group, one stroke behind Kevin Na. After bogeying the first hole, he played a near perfect round of golf, except for a three-putt bogey on the 17th, to hold off the challengers. The win elevated Kuchar to a career high of number five in the world rankings.

He won the 2013 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February 2003, defeating Hunter Mahan 2&1 in the final. During the final Kuchar built up a lead to 4 up at the turn, but Mahan mounted a comeback on the back nine winning four of the next seven holes to trail by just one. Mahan's wild drive on the 17th, however, put him in trouble. And after Kuchar knocked his approach close, Mahan conceded the hole after failing to chip in. This gave Kuchar his first World Golf Championship title.[10] Throughout the week, Kuchar has never more than one down in any of his matches and only trailed three times on his way to the win. He defeated Hiroyuki Fujita, Sergio García, Nicolas Colsaerts, Robert Garrigus and Jason Day on route to the final. Kuchar moved back into the world's top 10 after this victory.

Personal life [edit]

Kuchar is married to Sybi Kuchar; they have two sons, Cameron Cole (2007), and Carson Wright (2009), and live at St. Simons Island in Georgia.

Amateur wins (2) [edit]

Professional wins (8) [edit]

PGA Tour wins (5) [edit]

Legend
World Golf Championships (1)
FedEx Cup playoff event (1)
Other PGA Tour (3)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin
of victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Mar 10, 2002 Honda Classic –19 (68-69-66-66=269) 2 strokes United States Brad Faxon, United States Joey Sindelar
2 Oct 5, 2009 Turning Stone Resort Championship –17 (67-68-67-69=271) Playoff United States Vaughn Taylor
3 Aug 29, 2010 The Barclays –12 (68-69-69-66=272) Playoff Scotland Martin Laird
4 May 13, 2012 The Players Championship –13 (68-68-69-70=275) 2 strokes United States Ben Curtis, United States Rickie Fowler,
United States Zach Johnson, Scotland Martin Laird
5 Feb 24, 2013 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship 2 and 1 United States Hunter Mahan

PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2009 Turning Stone Resort Championship United States Vaughn Taylor Won with par on sixth extra hole
2 2010 The Barclays Scotland Martin Laird Won with birdie on first extra hole

Nationwide Tour wins (1) [edit]

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin
of victory		 Runner-up
1 May 21, 2006 Henrico County Open –9 (71-67-69-72=279) Playoff United States Paul Claxton

Other wins (2) [edit]

Results in major championships [edit]

Tournament 1998 1999
The Masters T21LA T50
U.S. Open T14LA CUT
The Open Championship CUT DNP
PGA Championship DNP DNP
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Masters DNP DNP CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP CUT DNP DNP CUT CUT DNP T48 CUT
The Open Championship DNP DNP CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT CUT CUT
PGA Championship DNP DNP CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013
The Masters T24 T27 T3 T8
U.S. Open T6 T14 T27
The Open Championship T27 CUT T9
PGA Championship T10 T19 CUT

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary [edit]

  • Starts – 30
  • Wins – 0
  • 2nd place finishes – 0
  • 3rd place finishes – 1
  • Top 3 finishes – 1
  • Top 5 finishes – 1
  • Top 10 finishes – 5
  • Top 25 finishes – 10
  • Missed cuts – 15
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 6
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)

World Golf Championships [edit]

Wins (1) [edit]

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin of victory Runner-up
2013 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship n/a 2 & 1 United States Hunter Mahan

Results timeline [edit]

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Accenture Match Play Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Cadillac Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Bridgestone Invitational T38 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Accenture Match Play Championship DNP R32 3 QF 1
Cadillac Championship DNP T3 5 T8 T35
Bridgestone Invitational DNP T9 T19 T8
HSBC Champions T19 DNP DNP DNP
  • DNP = Did not play
  • QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
  • "T" = tied
  • Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
  • Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

U.S. national team appearances [edit]

Amateur

Professional

See also [edit]

Equipment [edit]

As of 4/3/2013 Via: GolfWRX [11]

  • Driver: Bridgestone J40 430

Loft: 9.5 Degrees Shaft: Accra M4-55 Tour Proto

  • 3 Wood: Ping Anser

Loft: 14.5 Degrees Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DJ-7X Grip: Iomic

  • Hybrid: Ping Anser

Loft: 20 Degrees Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI-95x Hybrid

  • Driving Iron: Fourteen Tour Prototype

Loft: 4 Iron Shaft: Aerotech SteelFiber i95 Constant Weight S-Flex

  • Irons: Bridgestone J40 Cavity Back Custom Black Oxide Finish (5-PW)

Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber i95 Constant Weight S-Flex

  • Wedges: Bridgestone J40 Black Oxide (52, 56 Degrees)

Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue (U.S.A. Ryder Cup Shaft Label) Titleist Vokey SM4 Spin Milled (Stamped 62 Degrees bent to 63 Degrees) (7 Degrees Bounce) Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue

  • Putter: Bettinardi Matt Kuchar Proto DASS FitFace

Grip: 2013 SuperStroke Belly 21 Inch

  • Ball: Bridgestone Tour B330-S

References [edit]

  1. ^ Dorman, Larry (May 14, 2012). "Kuchar smiles, and grinds, his way to a signature Playerswin". PGA Tour. Retrieved February 25, 2013. 
  2. ^ Kendall, Mark (February 24, 2013). "Matt Kuchar beat Hunter Mahan 2&1 to win WGC Match Play Championship". Sky Sports. Retrieved February 25, 2013. 
  3. ^ "Molder chasing former GT teammate Kuchar". Golf News. August 13, 2010. 
  4. ^ "Kuchar wins on sixth playoff hole". ESPN. Associated Press. October 5, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2013. 
  5. ^ "Matt Kuchar claims first win of year". ESPN. Associated Press. August 30, 2010. Retrieved February 25, 2013. 
  6. ^ "Career Feats: Furyk named PGA Player of the Year; Kuchar earns first Vardon Trophy". PGA of America. November 15, 2010. Retrieved February 25, 2013. 
  7. ^ "Kuchar wins multiple Tour season-ending awards". PGA Tour. November 14, 2010. Retrieved February 25, 2013. 
  8. ^ "Steve Stricker wins Memorial by 1 shot". ESPN. Associated Press. June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 25, 2013. 
  9. ^ "U.S. team wins golf's World Cup". ESPN. Associated Press. November 27, 2011. Retrieved February 25, 2013. 
  10. ^ "Matt Kuchar wins as Ian Poulter finishes fourth". BBC Sport. February 24, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2013. 
  11. ^ http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/790901-matt-kuchar-witb/

External links [edit]
† indicates the event was won in a playoff
United States Presidents Cup team – 2011
United States
Won: 19 – 15
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