Kuchar gains first PGA Tour win

Matt Kuchar could have done this years ago.

Kuchar, the 1997 U.S. Amateur champion who turned down millions in favor of graduating from Georgia Tech, earned his first PGA Tour victory Sunday.

The 23-year-old Kuchar shot a 6-under 66 in the final round of the Honda Classic and beat Brad Faxon (67) and Joey Sindelar (70) by two strokes.

Kuchar finished at 19-under 269 and earned $630,000 in his 17th event as a professional.

He had eight birdies and two bogeys in his final round. He made four consecutive birdies on the back nine to help him rally from a four-shot deficit to Sindelar, who made his first bogey in the tournament on the 71st hole.

Kuchar needed just 23 putts, including eight in the final eight holes, to get the victory.

He gained a share of the lead with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-4 No. 13, then grabbed the outright lead on with a birdie on the par-5 No. 14 -- his fourth straight birdie.

Kuchar extended the lead to two strokes with another birdie on the par-5 16th, and made sure no one could tie him with a solid par save on the tough, par-4 18th.

``When that putt dropped, the rush of excitement I felt, I haven't felt that since the U.S. Amateur,'' Kuchar said.

It has come full circle.

Kuchar was a college sophomore when he graced Augusta National with a wide-eyed gaze to go with a game good enough to tie for 21st and earn an invitation back to the Masters.

Two months later, he starred again in the U.S. Open. He outplayed several big names to reach the weekend just two strokes off the lead, and wound up in a respectable tie for 14th.

He could have turned pro then and would have cashed in on lucrative endorsement offers. Though he never saw any numbers, Kuchar guesses the deals would have been worth at least $2 million.

He passed it up for two more years at Georgia Tech, where results were measured by memories, not trophies.

``I've always known it was the right decision,'' he said.

The first player to win the U.S. Amateur after Tiger Woods turned pro, Kuchar never won another. He didn't even get past qualifying his last two tries. And Georgia Tech never won an NCAA title.

That was the downside.

Kuchar didn't decide to turn pro until after the deadline passed for PGA Tour qualifying school. He worked as an investment banker in nearby Boca Raton, tempted to follow in the steps of Bobby Jones and remain an amateur for life.

But in the fall of 2000, after a few months in the business world, Kuchar was offered and accepted a sponsor's exemption into the Texas Open where a missed cut didn't matter.

What surprised Kuchar was how much he wanted to play again. He turned pro about a month later.

Kuchar's problem was that he was too late for the Q-School lead-in to gain eligibility for the 2001 PGA Tour season, and was restricted to seven sponsors' exemptions.

He finished second once, third once and earned $572,669 -- more than enough to earn his PGA Tour card. He had made five cuts in six events and earned$824,791.

Divots

Kuchar became the seventh golfer to earn his first PGA Tour win at the Honda Classic. ... The past six tournament champions, including Kuchar, live in Florida. ... Canadian Mike Weir double-bogeyed the par-4 10th to drop out of contention. The lefty hooked his tee shot into a waste bunker spotted with small bushes. With his ball sitting at the base of a bush, Weir tried to punch it out right-handed but shanked the shot and knocked it farther into the bunker. He chipped out from there, then hit a 6-iron onto the back of the green. He two-putted from there, finished 3 over in the round and tied for 11th. ... Weir tied the 54-hole tournament record (200) set by George Burns in1982.

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