Matt Kuchar was in the catbird seat when he arrived at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for last year’s Tour Championship. Tops in FedEx Cup points in 2010 prior to the finale of four FEC events, the affable Georgia Tech grad enjoyed a homecoming of sorts, dining with old friends and reveling in the good vibes of the city where he and his wife Sybi resided for some time after college.
At the end of the week, Kuchar found himself in a tie for 25th (out of 30) and well out of the hunt for the id=”mce_marker”0 million FedEx Cup bonus that Jim Furyk collected. The golfer would not pin the blame for his disappointing 2010 finish on his extracurricular activities, but he did not rule them out, either.
“I don’t know if it really affected my game or not,” Kuchar told reporters Wednesday. “I didn’t have my best week here last year. I hope that entertaining doesn’t affect my game. I think that being able to still be friendly off the course is something that I think I can handle.
“However,” Kuchar noted, “you’re trying to win this week and trying to put myself in the best position to win this week.”
If Kuchar needed a refresher course on keeping his eyes on the prize, he might look to PGA Tour rookie Keegan Bradley for some pointers. Still basking in his PGA Championship triumph in August, the New England native took advantage of every off-course activity offered him as the hometown hero at Boston’s Deutsche Bank Championship over Labor Day weekend.
Bradley was the talk and toast of the town when he took the mound at Fenway Part to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before a Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees game. The Hopkinton (Mass.) High School grad was all grins as he tossed the coin before a pre-season New England Patriots game. And, with friends and family living all over the six-state region, the 25-year-old from Woodstock, Vt., hosted upwards of 25 relatives — including his aunt, LPGA Tour Hall of Famer Pat Bradley — before and during his quick stint at TPC Boston.
Bradley sought to downplay the potential distractions of playing before the home crowd but conceded the after-hours events exhausted him. After shooting 68 and 76, Bradley missed the cut.
While there’s no cut for Kuchar to miss this week, his wife wanted the fifth-ranked FedEx Cup golfer to concentrate on the job at hand.
“My wife has made me limit the off-course activities, getting together with friends, dinners, those sort of things, which has been tough to say no to the friends, texting saying if you have an open night, love to catch up for dinner,” Kuchar said. “So many of those I’ve gone ahead and said this year we’re going to try to stay a lot more quiet.”
“Last year was a busy week for us, just catching up with so many friends. And I love Atlanta, I love being here, I’ve got so many great friends here,” Kuchar added. “But my wife said, ‘you really owe it to yourself to make this as much of a regular tournament as you can and to not just feel like you’re entertaining all week.’ So I’m trying to limit it a bit, and it’s been hard.”
No kidding. Just ask Keegan Bradley.
Kuchar will tee off with Brandt Snedeker this afternoon at 1:35. In a battle of long putters, Bradley, who rebounded last week at the BMW Championship after MCs at both the Deutsche Bank and The Barclays, has a 12:25 p.m. golf date with Adam Scott.
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Check her out on the Waggle Room, Boston Golf Examiner, National Golf Examiner, and GottaGoGolf websites. You may also follow Kay on Twitter @golfexaminer.)
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- Keegan Bradley throws out first pitch at Fenway Park (Video)
