Matt Kuchar facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Matt Kuchar
Kuchar at the 2017 Valero Texas Open
Personal information
Full name	Matthew Gregory Kuchar
Nickname	Kuch
Born	(1978-06-21) June 21, 1978 (age 47) Winter Park, Florida, U.S.
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	195 lb (88 kg; 13.9 st)
Residence	St. Simons, Georgia, U.S.
Spouse	Sybi Parker ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	2
Career
College	Georgia Tech
Turned professional	2000
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	18
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	9
European Tour	1
Japan Golf Tour	1
Asian Tour	1
PGA Tour of Australasia	1
Web.com Tour	1
Other	6
Best results in Major Championships
The Masters Tournament	T3: 2012
U.S. Open	T6: 2010
The Open Championship	2nd: 2017
PGA Championship	T7: 2015
Achievements and awards
Haskins Award	1998
PGA Tour money list winner	2010
Byron Nelson Award	2010
Vardon Trophy	2010

Matthew Gregory Kuchar (born June 21, 1978), often called "Kuch," is an American professional golfer. He plays on the PGA Tour, which is one of the biggest golf tours in the world. Matt has won nine tournaments on the PGA Tour.

Early in his career, Matt had some success, but then he faced a tough time. He worked hard to improve his golf swing starting in 2008. This helped him get much better results. In 2010, he earned the most money of any player on the PGA Tour.

Matt won The Players Championship in 2012. This was his biggest win at the time. After this victory, he became one of the top five golfers in the world. He stayed in the top 10 for more than 40 weeks! In 2013, Matt won his first World Golf Championship event. He beat another golfer named Hunter Mahan in a match play final.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Matt Kuchar won a bronze medal for golf. This was a special moment because golf had not been in the Olympics since 1904. Matt is known for being one of the highest-earning PGA Tour players who has not yet won a major championship. His best finish in a major was second place at the 2017 Open Championship.

Matt's Early Life and School

Matt Kuchar was born in Winter Park, Florida. His dad, Peter, sold life insurance and was also a college tennis player. Matt has one sister named Rebecca. He finished high school in Sanford in 1996.

College Golf Career

Matt went to Georgia Tech in Atlanta. He was a fantastic golfer for the Yellow Jackets team. He was named an All-American twice, which means he was one of the best college golfers in the country.

In 1996, Matt almost won the U.S. Amateur championship, losing to Tiger Woods in the semi-finals. But he came back and won the title in 1997! In 1998, he received the Haskins Award as the top college golfer. Matt also did well in major championships as an amateur. He was the best amateur player at both The Masters and the U.S. Open that year. He earned a degree in management from Georgia Tech.

Matt's Professional Golf Journey

Starting as a Pro Golfer

Matt Kuchar became a professional golfer in November 2000. He had a good start in 2001, earning enough money to play full-time on the PGA Tour in 2002.

His first PGA Tour win was at the Honda Classic in 2002. After a tough year in 2005, he lost his PGA Tour card. He then played on the Nationwide Tour in 2006. Matt won the Henrico County Open on that tour. This win helped him get his PGA Tour card back for 2007. He kept his spot on the tour for the next two years.

Big Wins and Achievements

Seven years after his first win, Matt won again in 2009 at the Turning Stone Resort Championship. He won in a playoff against Vaughn Taylor.

In 2010, Matt joined the Ryder Cup team, a special event where American golfers play against European golfers. He also won The Barclays tournament that year. Matt received several awards in 2010, including the Vardon Trophy for having the lowest average score and the Arnold Palmer Award for earning the most money.

In 2011, Matt had a strong start with many top-10 finishes. He reached the semi-finals of the 2011 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He also teamed up with Gary Woodland to win the 2011 Omega Mission Hills World Cup for the USA.

Major Tournament Success

Matt had his best performance in a major championship at The Masters in 2012, finishing tied for third place. He was even tied for the lead on the final day!

In May 2012, Matt won the biggest tournament of his career: The Players Championship. He played a great final round to win by two strokes. This victory moved him up to number five in the world golf rankings.

In 2013, he won the 2013 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He beat Hunter Mahan in the final match. Matt also won the Memorial Tournament in June 2013. Later that year, he played in Australia, finishing second at the Australian Masters.

More Wins and Close Calls

In 2014, Matt had some close calls. He was tied for the lead at the Valero Texas Open and had a big lead at the Shell Houston Open, but lost in a playoff. He was also in contention at the Masters. A week later, he won his seventh PGA Tour event at the RBC Heritage. He made an amazing chip-in birdie on the last hole to win!

In 2015, Matt had several top finishes but didn't win a PGA Tour event. He did win the Fiji International, which is an official event on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Olympic Medal and Recent Years

Matt had a great year in 2016, earning nine top-10 finishes. He then won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

In 2017, Matt played in 26 events and had nine top-10 finishes. He tied for fourth at The Masters. At the 2017 Open Championship, he finished second after a close battle with Jordan Spieth. Matt also represented the United States in the President's Cup, helping his team win.

In 2018, Matt did not win any tournaments. He was a non-playing vice-captain for the U.S. team at the 2018 Ryder Cup. Later that year, in November 2018, he won the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico. There was a discussion about how much he paid his caddie for this win. Matt later apologized and paid his caddie more, also donating to local charities.

In 2019, Matt won the Sony Open in Hawaii, his second win in three starts. He also reached the final of the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play but lost to Kevin Kisner. In December 2019, Matt was part of the U.S. team that won the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia. He made the putt that secured the win for his team!

In January 2020, Matt won the Singapore Open on the Japan Golf Tour.

Matt's Personal Life

Matt Kuchar is married to Sybi Parker. She was also a tennis player at Georgia Tech. They live on St. Simons Island in Georgia and have two sons, Cameron Cole and Carson Wright. Matt is a Christian.

Amateur Wins

• 1997 Terra Cotta Invitational
• 1997 U.S. Amateur

Professional Wins (18)

PGA Tour Wins (9)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Mar 10, 2002	The Honda Classic	68-69-66-66=269	−19	2 strokes	Brad Faxon, Joey Sindelar
2	Oct 5, 2009	Turning Stone Resort Championship	67-68-67-69=271	−17	Playoff	Vaughn Taylor
3	Aug 29, 2010	The Barclays	68-69-69-66=272	−12	Playoff	Martin Laird
4	May 13, 2012	The Players Championship	68-68-69-70=275	−13	2 strokes	Ben Curtis, Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson, Martin Laird
5	Feb 24, 2013	WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship	2 and 1			Hunter Mahan
6	Jun 2, 2013	Memorial Tournament	68-70-70-68=276	−12	2 strokes	Kevin Chappell
7	Apr 20, 2014	RBC Heritage	66-73-70-64=273	−11	1 stroke	Luke Donald
8	Nov 11, 2018	Mayakoba Golf Classic	64-64-65-69=262	−22	1 stroke	Danny Lee
9	Jan 13, 2019	Sony Open in Hawaii	63-63-66-66=258	−22	4 strokes	Andrew Putnam

Japan Golf Tour Wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Jan 19, 2020	SMBC Singapore Open1	66-68-62-70=266	−18	3 strokes	Justin Rose

¹Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

PGA Tour of Australasia Wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Oct 18, 2015	Fiji International1	74-72-69-69=284	−4	4 strokes	Aron Price

¹Co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour

Nationwide Tour Wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	May 21, 2006	Henrico County Open	71-67-69-72=279	−9	Playoff	Paul Claxton

Other Wins (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runners-up
1	Jun 21, 2011	CVS Caremark Charity Classic (with Zach Johnson)	58-60=118	−24	2 strokes	Davis Love III and Morgan Pressel
2	Nov 27, 2011	Omega Mission Hills World Cup (with Gary Woodland)	64-70-63-67=264	−24	2 strokes	England − Ian Poulter and Justin Rose,  Germany − Alex Čejka and Martin Kaymer
3	Dec 15, 2013	Franklin Templeton Shootout (with Harris English)	64-60-58=182	−34	7 strokes	Retief Goosen and Freddie Jacobson
4	Oct 25, 2015	Bridgestone America's Golf Cup (with Justin Hueber)	67-60-63-60=250	−34	4 strokes	Rafael Campos and Edward Figueroa
5	Dec 10, 2016	Franklin Templeton Shootout (2) (with Harris English)	57-66-65=188	−28	1 stroke	Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker
6	Dec 13, 2020	QBE Shootout (3) (with Harris English)	58-61-60=179	−37	9 strokes	Rory Sabbatini and Kevin Tway

Major Championship Results

Matt Kuchar has played in many major golf championships. These are the four biggest tournaments in golf.

Kuchar at the 2015 PGA Championship

     Top 10      Did not play LA = low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary of Major Results

The Players Championship

This is a very important tournament on the PGA Tour. Matt Kuchar won it in 2012.

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runners-up
2012	The Players Championship	1 shot deficit	−13 (68-68-69-70=275)	2 strokes	Ben Curtis, Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson, Martin Laird

Results Timeline

     Win      Top 10      Did not play CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

World Golf Championships

Matt Kuchar has also won a World Golf Championship event.

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
2013	WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship	n/a	2 and 1		Hunter Mahan

Results Timeline

¹Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
     Win      Top 10      Did not play QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.

PGA Tour Career Summary

This table shows Matt Kuchar's earnings and rank on the PGA Tour each year.

* As of April 17, 2022

U.S. National Team Appearances

Matt Kuchar has represented the United States in several team golf events.

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy: 1998
• Palmer Cup: 1998 (tie), 1999 (winners)
• Walker Cup: 1999

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 (winners)
• Presidents Cup: 2011 (winners), 2013 (winners), 2015 (winners), 2017 (winners), 2019 (winners)
• World Cup: 2011 (winners), 2013, 2018

See also

In Spanish: Matt Kuchar para niños