Matt Kuchar | |
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Personal information | |
Full name | Matthew Gregory Kuchar |
Nickname | Kuch |
Born | June 21, 1978 Winter Park, Florida |
Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
Weight | 195 lb (88 kg; 13.9 st) |
Nationality | United States |
Career | |
College | Georgia Tech |
Turned professional | 2000 |
Current tour(s) | PGA Tour |
Professional wins | 6 |
Number of wins by tour | |
PGA Tour | 3 |
Nationwide Tour | 1 |
Best results in Major Championships |
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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 winner |
2010 |
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.
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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]
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. Kuchar and Gary Woodland combined to win the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in November.[7]
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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 Sindelar |
2 | Oct 5, 2009 | Turning Stone Resort Championship | -17 (67-68-67-69=271) | Playoff | Vaughn Taylor |
3 | Aug 29, 2010 | The Barclays | -12 (68-69-69-66=272) | Playoff | Martin Laird |
PGA Tour playoff record (2–0)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2009 | Turning Stone Resort Championship | Vaughn Taylor | Won with par on sixth extra hole |
2 | 2010 | The Barclays | Martin Laird | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
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.
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 |
Amateur
Professional
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