AUGUSTA, Ga. — Shiny Kuchar is one of those guys that always finds the silver coating. He rarely complains about a circular of golf and, unlike plenty of wealthy athletes, he understands exactly how fortunate he is to make a very good residing playing a game. But even Kuchar— good ole smilin’ Matt— appeared whipped after spending more than five hrs doing battle with Augusta National upon Friday.
“ I’ m really looking forward to heading home, kick my feet upward and watch the guys coming in playing within this wind, ” he said, nevertheless smiling in spite of an often-frustrating three-over 75 that dropped him from the tie for second place on Thursday night to a tie for 17th whenever he signed his scorecard. “ Tough day from the get-go. I believed I hit a bunch of good photos, but 15 and 18 actually got me. ”
Kuchar is playing in the 12th Masters. He finished T-3, two strokes out of the Bubba Watson-Louis Oosthuizen playoff in 2012, and T-4 a year ago. He understands how slim the margin is between birdie and bogey on this golf course, specifically on a windy day on Augusta National’ s lightning-fast greens.
“ At fifteen, I honestly didn’ t believe I hit a bad shot, ” he said. “ I had 233 to the back of the green meant for my second shot, and I may hit my hybrid 228. I actually hit it well and it simply kept carrying— went at least 233— and carried well over the eco-friendly. From there, all you’ re seeking to do is find a place to strike it to give yourself a chance to have it up-and-down for par. ”
And then Kuchar smiled again. “ I hit an excellent second shot, a good third photo, a good fourth shot, a good 5th shot and then I tapped set for 6. That’ s what can occur on this golf course. ”
His closing bogey in 18 was simpler: a three-putt. “ Made a bad decision presently there on how to play the first putt, also it hurt me, ” he stated.
In all, Kuchar knew that 68-75 didn’ capital t mean his chance to finally earn his elusive first major name was gone, but he furthermore knew it had not been a good day time. “ It may be that the winner includes a 73, 74 along the way before this really is all done, ” he stated. “ But Rickie [Fowler] showed you can string 2 pretty good rounds [70-72] together. ”
The third player in Kuchar’ t group, Phil Mickelson, did not thread two good rounds together, capturing 70-79. “ Just not a good trip to all, ” said the three-time Masters winner with a shrug associated with his shoulders. “ The program was just fine, very fair, simply tough in these conditions, and I didn’ t play especially well. ”
It was two decades ago that Kuchar first performed here as a 19-year-old U. S i9000. Amateur champion. He was some thing of a sensation, shooting 72-76-68-72, not to only win low amateur yet finished T-21, which in those days gained a player an invitation to the next year’ s Masters for finishing within the top 24.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images
Kuchar was an university sophomore at Georgia Tech whenever he played his first Experts 20 years ago.
He was just a Georgia Tech sophomore at the time. Right after finishing T-14 in the U. S i9000. Open at Olympic Club later on that summer, he was full with offers from sponsors which wanted to make him very rich if he turned pro. Kuchar turned them all down, made the particular cut at the Masters again in 1999 plus decided not to turn pro even after graduation.
“ We wasn’ t certain if I wished a job where I was on the road and hotels all the time, ” he mentioned. “ I had in the back of my thoughts that Bobby Jones had gone in order to Georgia Tech, and never turned professional, and maybe I could be a little bit such as him if I stayed amateur. I quickly realized pretty quickly that seated around in an office all day wasn’ t for me either. So , We decided to give the golf thing a go. ”
This individual won the Honda Classic within 2002— missing the cut within the Masters— and then struggled for the following three years, going all the way back to 2nd stage of PGA Tour Queen School in 2005. He employed Chris O’ Connell as their swing coach, changed his golf swing and became a money-making device. He’ s won six a lot more times on tour since then, performed on the last four Ryder Glass teams and is known as one of the tour’ s most consistent players— as well as the court jester of the locker space.
“ No one on visit is more different from his public picture than Kooch, ” Zach Manley, one of his close friends from the alleged “ Sea Island Mafia” loves to say. “ You can never switch your back on him. ”
David Cannon/R& The
Kuchar’s best chance at a major emerged last summer, when Jordan Spieth chased him down at the Open up Championship at Birkdale.
Kuchar will be the guy who will put a poster of someone wearing no clothes— guy or woman— in a locker whenever he knows a player is going to provide a sponsor a locker-room tour. He could be as quick with an one-liner since anyone, but can also be smart plus serious when the time calls for this.
It was Kuchar who brought an easel to the team room on Saturday evening at the 2016 Ryder Cup plus demanded that everyone in the space stand up and talk about two stuff in their life they were grateful for— loved ones, health and friends not allowed as solutions.
RELATED: Bring your game to a brand new level with Golf Digest Most of Access
“ By the time he was performed, everyone was in tears, ” mentioned Brandt Snedeker. “ He produced us all think about how lucky i was to be right where we were using a chance to win back the Ryder Glass the next day. It put us in the perfect place going to bed that evening. ”
Kuchar will be 40 in June as well as the one hole in his golf continue remains that elusive first main title. His best chance emerged last summer, when he dropped to Jordan Spieth at the Open up Championship at Birkdale— beaten whenever Spieth pulled off a miracle bogey at 13 and then played the following four holes in five below to win by three.
Spieth hears the particular clock ticking, watches his kids (10-year-old Cameron and 8-year-old Carson) continue to grow taller and hopes he is able to put it all together once, the way Sergio Garcia did here last year.
“ Hard to think it was 20 years ago that I 1st played here, ” he mentioned Friday. “ I thought about that last night, when we started late and we had been all playing well. We reached 18 in the late afternoon, as well as the shadows were long, and I exhibited back 20 years to walking upward late in the day with my father [Peter] on the handbag. It was such a cool thing and am couldn’ t help but remember this yesterday. It was a nice memory. ”
The weekend break at the Masters is for making reminiscences. Kuchar knows if he can replicate the third round 68 he chance in 1998, he can get into the particular hunt for Sunday. There’ s without a doubt that having a shot at lastly winning a major, one that comes with an eco-friendly jacket, would put a huge grin on his face … for a lengthy, long time.
