ARDMORE, Pa. — Matt Kuchar isn’t surprised his name is now getting placed near the top of this backhanded list — the angst-filled and pressure-driven list of the Best Player Never to Have Won a Major.
“There are a lot of us in that boat,” Kuchar said yesterday on the eve of the 113th U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club. “Certainly a major championship, a U.S. Open, is one I’m geared up for. I’m looking forward to competing and trying to put my name on this trophy.”
Kuchar is coming in as hot as any player on Tour, having won the Memorial just two weeks ago at Muirfield Village in Ohio.
Walking off that 18th green, he shook the hand of four-time Open winner Jack Nicklaus. Whether he liked it or not, that nationally televised handshake shoved him into the spotlight as one of this week’s favorites.
“I feel like [in] my golfing career, I’ve made steps in the right direction,” Kuchar said. “I feel like I’ve kind of stepped up in the ranks of winning against the best players in the world. And we definitely have the best players in the world showing up for a U.S. Open.”
This golf course seems to fit Kuchar’s game.
He doesn’t drive the ball all that far or straight, but he can play irons and hybrids off the tee at the short, 6,996-yard East Course. Around the greens, which very often determine the Open winner, Kuchar ranks 10th on the Tour in scrambling, and 13th in the new quantified putting statistic, strokes gained.
“I feel like I’m on good form,” Kuchar said. “I’m looking to continue to play good golf.”
Kuchar has finished in the top-10 in each of the four majors, his best finish being a tie for third at last year’s Masters. With his flat golf swing and his arm-press putting stroke (the shaft of the club running up his left forearm), the 34-year-old Georgia Tech grad has won six times on the PGA Tour. With his ever-present smile and his calm demeanor, he also has become a fan favorite.
Now if he can get himself a U.S. Open victory, he will enter a whole new realm of celebrity.
“I think there are a few times a year you really hope to be playing excellent golf,” Kuchar said. “This is one of them.”