- Matt Kuchar
-
Matt Kuchar 
Personal information Full name Matthew Gregory Kuchar Nickname Kuch Born June 21, 1978
Winter Park, FloridaHeight 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13.9 st) Nationality 
United StatesCareer College Georgia Tech Turned professional 2000 Current tour(s) PGA Tour Professional wins 5 Number of wins by tour PGA Tour 3 Nationwide Tour 1 Best results in Major Championships Masters Tournament T21: 1998 U.S. Open T6: 2010 The Open Championship T27: 2010 PGA Championship T10: 2010 Achievements and awards PGA Tour
leading money winner2010 Vardon Trophy 2010 Byron Nelson Award 2010 Matthew Gregory Kuchar (born June 21, 1978) is an American professional golfer who has played on both the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. He has ranked as high as number six in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Contents
Early career
Kuchar was born in Winter Park, Florida. He graduated from Georgia Tech, where he was a two-time first-team All-American on the golf team. In 1997, he won the U.S. Amateur. He received the Haskins Award in 1998 as the nation's top collegiate golfer. He was the low amateur at both The Masters and U.S. Open in 1998. He turned pro in 2000. One of Kuchar's teammates at Georgia Tech was future PGA Tour professional Bryce Molder.[1]
Professional career
Kuchar's first win on the PGA Tour came at the 2002 Honda Classic; however, by 2006 he was on the Nationwide Tour after failing to earn enough money to qualify for the PGA Tour. He won the Nationwide Tour's 2006 Henrico County Open and finished 10th on the money list to earn his 2007 PGA Tour card. He retained his card in 2007 by finishing 115th on the money list and again in 2008 by finishing 70th.
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.[2]
On August 15, 2010, Kuchar made the U.S. 2010 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.[3]
Kuchar won the Vardon Trophy[4] and Byron Nelson Award in 2010 for lowest scoring average and the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Award for leading the money list.[5]
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.[6] 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 shortended to 54 holes due to Hurricane Irene. This finish moved Kuchar to second in the FedEx Cup standings.
Amateur wins (2)
- 1997 Terra Cotta Invitational, U.S. Amateur
Professional wins (5)
PGA Tour wins (3)
Legend FedEx Cup playoff event (1) Other PGA Tour (2) 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 Brad Faxon, Joey Sindelar2 Oct 5, 2009 Turning Stone Resort Championship -17 (67-68-67-69=271) Playoff Vaughn Taylor3 Aug 29, 2010 The Barclays -12 (68-69-69-66=272) Playoff 
Martin LairdPGA Tour playoff record (2–0)
No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result 1 2009 Turning Stone Resort Championship Vaughn TaylorWon with par on sixth extra hole 2 2010 The Barclays Martin LairdWon with birdie on first extra hole Nationwide Tour wins (1)
Other wins (1)
- 2011 CVS Caremark Charity Classic (with Zach Johnson)
Results in major championships
Tournament 1998 1999 The Masters T21 LA T50 U.S. Open T14 LA 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 The Masters T25 T27 U.S. Open T6 T14 The Open Championship T27 CUT PGA Championship T10 T19 LA = Low Amateur
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.Summary
- Tournaments played: 25
- Wins: 0
- Top 10s: 2
- Top 25s: 7
- Missed cuts: 14
- Most consecutive cuts made: 6
Results in World Golf Championships
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 Accenture Match Play Championship DNP R32 3 Cadillac Championship DNP T3 5 Bridgestone Invitational DNP T9 T19 HSBC Champions T19 DNP DNP - DNP = Did not play
- QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
- "T" = tied
- Yellow background for top-10.
- Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
- Walker Cup: 1999
Professional
- Ryder Cup: 2010
- Presidents Cup: 2011 (winners)
See also
References
- ^ "Molder chasing former GT teammate Kuchar". Golf News. August 13, 2010. http://www.vegasinsider.com/golf/story.cfm/story/1028809.
- ^ "Kuchar Wins on Sixth Playoff Hole". ESPN. October 5, 2009. http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4532968. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
- ^ "Matt Kuchar Claims First Win of Year". ESPN. August 29, 2010. http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=5510311. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
- ^ Career Feats: Furyk named PGA Player of the Year; Kuchar earns first Vardon Trophy
- ^ Kuchar wins multiple Tour season-ending awards
- ^ "Kuchar finishes runner up at the Memorial". PGA Tour. June 5, 2011. http://www.pgatour.com/2011/r/06/05/rd4-wrap-up/index.html. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
External links
- Official website
- Matt Kuchar at the PGA Tour official site
- Matt Kuchar at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
United States Ryder Cup team – 2010 Stewart Cink · Rickie Fowler · Jim Furyk · Dustin Johnson · Zach Johnson · Matt Kuchar · Hunter Mahan · Phil Mickelson · Jeff Overton · Steve Stricker · Bubba Watson · Tiger Woods
Corey Pavin (non-playing captain)
Lost: 13.5 – 14.5
United States Presidents Cup team – 2011 Jim Furyk • Bill Haas • Dustin Johnson • Matt Kuchar • Hunter Mahan • Phil Mickelson • Webb Simpson • Steve Stricker • David Toms • Nick Watney • Bubba Watson • Tiger Woods
Fred Couples (non-playing captain)
Won: 19 – 15Categories:- American golfers
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's golfers
- PGA Tour golfers
- People from Winter Park, Florida
- 1978 births
- Living people
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
