I guess Matt Kuchar came to all but fans of Georgia Tech's attention when he won the 1997 US Amateur then the next year at the Masters with his dad caddying and leading the cheers for him.
He always had that million dollar smile. Scott Metcalfe and I got to know him in 2001 when he turned pro and came up here to play in the Samsung Nationwide / CPGA tourney at Diamondback GC up in Stouffville and he was so very gracious and courteous.
You know he's won over $12m in career earnings, but he had to go away and give his swing a makeover, because he'd dropped off the radar for most of this decade, I mean he had trouble just making cuts, before his startling return to form at the end of 2009 when he won the Turning Stone Classic then came 7th the next week at Justin Timberlake's event..
He quietly had 11 top 10's this year including a T3 at the season opener SBS in Hawaii, then 2nd at the Hope and 3rd at Doral so he was off to a solid start. He T4 at our Canadian Open and that's the way his great year went, always in contention until the Fed Ex playoffs came and he won the Barclay's and came 3rd at the BMW.
When I break down all his stats nothing stands out until you come to scoring his ball. He is 1st in scoring average at 69.43, he is 1st in scoring par 4's and 4th in scoring par 5's
1st in the money list with $4.9m, 13th in the world, #1 in Fed Ex Cup points until Jim Furyk stole it all at the Tour Championship when Matt faltered to a 25th place finish.. Still he was consistent all year, so he's my number 5..
A remarkable year, smiling all the way to the bank, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy..
Next #3 Graeme McDowell wins US Open at Pebble Beach
Bryan Angus
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