I am confident to say that I can express Matt Kuchar’s feelings for him; “It’s about time.” Kuch displaying
outstanding poise down the stretch to grab his first victory on the season at Hilton Head and grab the Tartan coat. Granted, it is not the green jacket, but it symbolizes the much-needed victory that Matt has been so closely hovering.
Kuchar blew his chance to win prior to The Masters but stuck close all the way till the Sunday back nine at Augusta. The same thing that broke him in Georgia almost cost him the shot at the RBC Heritage crown. On the 17th hole, Kuch found himself with a four foot birdie putt to solidify a comfortable clubhouse lead, but he yipped it. To make matters worse, he also missed the comebacker and ended up three putting for bogey. For a normal hack, like myself, this would have been enough to leave the clubs strapped on the cart and cozy up to the closest bar. Not for Kuch.
When he reached the 18th, he ended up in the greenside bunker with a chance to get up and down for par. That was not good enough though as he drained the splash shot out of the trap and punctuated an incredible three week run. It is great to see Kuch get back on top of the leaderboard and gain some momentum going into the meat of the schedule. Look for the Georgia native to be among the heavy favorites at The Players, and most of the remaining majors.
As if last week’s great finish didn't satisfy your palate, the Tour shifts to Nawlins' for the Zurich Classic, which is bound to be a great time. Last year, we saw Billy Horschel break though for him first tour victory, after ripping off an impressive amount of birdies on the weekend. Billy has been struggling thus far this year, but I will be looking for a similar trend that he capitalized on last year with my picks this week.
Rickie Fowler has been sniffing the top five consistently since the Match Play and I feel he is due for his first victory this year. After the swing changes Rickie applied early on, everything seems to be coming together for the youngster. Fowler is coming off an impressive T5 finish at Augusta and may have gained for incredible life experience playing his finishing round with The Mechanic, Miguel Angel Jimenez. Rickie doesn’t have any performance stats jumping off the page but he consistency on the approach and ability to sink long, much-needed putts, could put him right where he wants to be come Sunday.
It is hard not to mention Graham DeLaet here if we are looking for yet another first time winner to emerge. Charlie gave you all the credentials on DeLaet a few weeks ago, and the same narrative applies here. He has all the skills you want in a champion and started this year real hot. Look for him to improve on his season best runner up finish in Scottsdale and grab his first tour victory here in Louisiana.
For those of that missed Charlie’s QuickTap Podcast this week, he selected the great state of Louisiana as his number one US destination to travel to. Let’s hope the Tour shows him why it might worth making that trip sooner than later.
Kuchar blew his chance to win prior to The Masters but stuck close all the way till the Sunday back nine at Augusta. The same thing that broke him in Georgia almost cost him the shot at the RBC Heritage crown. On the 17th hole, Kuch found himself with a four foot birdie putt to solidify a comfortable clubhouse lead, but he yipped it. To make matters worse, he also missed the comebacker and ended up three putting for bogey. For a normal hack, like myself, this would have been enough to leave the clubs strapped on the cart and cozy up to the closest bar. Not for Kuch.
When he reached the 18th, he ended up in the greenside bunker with a chance to get up and down for par. That was not good enough though as he drained the splash shot out of the trap and punctuated an incredible three week run. It is great to see Kuch get back on top of the leaderboard and gain some momentum going into the meat of the schedule. Look for the Georgia native to be among the heavy favorites at The Players, and most of the remaining majors.
As if last week’s great finish didn't satisfy your palate, the Tour shifts to Nawlins' for the Zurich Classic, which is bound to be a great time. Last year, we saw Billy Horschel break though for him first tour victory, after ripping off an impressive amount of birdies on the weekend. Billy has been struggling thus far this year, but I will be looking for a similar trend that he capitalized on last year with my picks this week.
Rickie Fowler has been sniffing the top five consistently since the Match Play and I feel he is due for his first victory this year. After the swing changes Rickie applied early on, everything seems to be coming together for the youngster. Fowler is coming off an impressive T5 finish at Augusta and may have gained for incredible life experience playing his finishing round with The Mechanic, Miguel Angel Jimenez. Rickie doesn’t have any performance stats jumping off the page but he consistency on the approach and ability to sink long, much-needed putts, could put him right where he wants to be come Sunday.
It is hard not to mention Graham DeLaet here if we are looking for yet another first time winner to emerge. Charlie gave you all the credentials on DeLaet a few weeks ago, and the same narrative applies here. He has all the skills you want in a champion and started this year real hot. Look for him to improve on his season best runner up finish in Scottsdale and grab his first tour victory here in Louisiana.
For those of that missed Charlie’s QuickTap Podcast this week, he selected the great state of Louisiana as his number one US destination to travel to. Let’s hope the Tour shows him why it might worth making that trip sooner than later.
-Bryan
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