THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Matt's Breakthrough

Today, we saw another golf star take another step in their career. A common trend as of late (i.e. Bubba breaking through at The Masters, Rickie Fowler prevailing for the first time last week), it was destined to happen again for someone. The only question: Who was going to step up and win arguably the toughest tournament they'll play all year? There were a few names wanting the chance to get to that next "platform". Let's review them below.

First, you had leader Kevin Na. The dude who waggles so much, there were jokes coming in left and right. BUT, he was leading this tournament, so respect was due. You then had Matt Kuchar, who is one of the more consistent guys on tour, but never really could put it all together to close out a bigger tournament. There was also Martin Laird, who took a step in his career last year by winning Arnie's event, and was looking for another big moment. Finally, you had Rickie Fowler, fresh off of a dramatic win at Quail Hollow by beating Rory McIlroy in a playoff, wanting to continue the high expectations of him and claim a trophy in the best field in golf. The stage was definitely set for a brilliant Sunday.

Even with struggling starts such as Lee Westwood, Tiger, and Sergio, along with Rory who didn't make it to the weekend, we still got a nice battle to watch on Sunday. Matt started off 1 back of Kevin Na, but was steady all day and allowed others around him to make mistakes. He shot a solid 70, and went into the clubhouse at -13. Na was an example of this, by slowly imploding after an early birdie. He had a bad stretch filled with one bogey after another that ended his chances of capturing the title. Meanwhile, Martin Laird made a HUGE run for the trophy, making 6 bogies through 13 holes to get a share of the lead. Unfortunately, he stalled after that, making a bogeys on 14 and 18 to end his hopes. Fowler had the best chance of catching and putting pressure on Kuchar. He was playing in the group ahead of him, and had made a few birdies to pull within 2 with 1 hole to go. He had a putt inside 10 feet on 18 to cut the gap to 1 shot and make Matt sweat out the final hole, but he missed it barely to the right. This allowed Matt to go ahead and par hole 18 to comfortably win by 2 shots.

This win is HUGE for Kuchar. Many, many years ago he was projected to be a true star coming out of Georgia Tech. Unfortunately, his first few years on tour were a bit of a struggle, but as of late, he's been coming around. The last few years he has been a top 10 machine, and is now clearly an elite golfer. This win could hopefully propel him to a possible major championship somewhere down the road. He certainly had the game, and now he has the confidence.

Congratulations, Matt! And Happy Mother's Day everyone!

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