Nice guys don’t finish last.
A really nice guy won the Claret Jug on Sunday at Royal Birkdale and another really nice guy had his heart broken and finished second.
Matt Kuchar was looking at his best chance at a major championship Sunday when he took the lead over eventual winner Jordan Spieth at the 13th hole. As they walked off that green, Kuchar was eight-under par, Spieth seven-under.
“You work so hard to get to this position. And to have a chance to make history and win a championship. You don’t get that many opportunities. And to be this close, to taste it with five holes to go, it’s a hard one to sit back and take,” Kuchar said after watching Spieth put on a finish for the ages, playing the final five holes in five-under par.
It was then that the Spieth Surge took over and he would finish birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-par to blow past Kuchar and claim the Claret Jug. Spieth and Kuchar both shot one-under par 69s and the final margin was where it was when the day began — three shots. Spieth, 12-under, Kuchar, Matnine-under.
“I did get two birdies between the 14th and 17th,” Kuchar recounted, “It’s not that I did anything wrong. but I still lost two shots to Jordan. I can only control what I do, how I play. Jordan is a great champion and certainly played that way in the finishing stretch today. It was impressive stuff when a guy does something like that. All you can really do is sit back, tip your cap and say, ‘well done.’ It was certainly a show that he put on.”
Spieth paid tribute to Kuchar and recounted the long wait Kuchar endured on the 13th hole where Spieth took 20 minutes to find a spot to play his third shot. “What a class act Matt is. I took 20 minutes to play one of my shots today and Kuch is such a champion that he took it all in stride,” Spieth said. Spieth also predicted a major on the horizon for Kuchar.
“I believe Matt Kuchar will win a major championship and I believe that he’ll do it sometime soon,” Spieth said. “He’s a great champion and he’s such a great person.”
Kuchar was still hurting, however, from his near miss.
It’s hard to explain,” Kuch said. “It’s crushing. It hurts. And it’s an excitement and a thrill to have played well, put up a battle, put up a fight.
“You work so hard to get to this position. And to have a chance to make history and win a championship, you don’t get that many opportunities. And to be this close, to taste it with five holes to go, it’s a hard one to sit back and take.”
There was a huge consolation for Kuchar. Waiting for him at the final green were his wife and children, who flew in to surprise him.
