Kuchar earns first win since 2010

The only complaint about Matt Kuchar was not winning enough. He picked up a big one Sunday at The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Kuchar avoided the big mistakes that slowed so many other contenders – starting with Kevin Na – and kept it out of the water on the TPC Sawgrass to eliminate the kind of drama he didn’t need. He closed with a 2-under 70 for a two-shot victory.

That famous smile, which he first showed the golf world as an amateur in 1998 competing on the biggest stages, was brighter than ever as Kuchar tapped in for par. He celebrated on the 18th green with his wife and two sons, and shared a hug and a high-five with his mother.

His parents moved to Ponte Vedra Beach and Kuchar stayed with them all week. Coming off the green, he said he was “about to buckle” after such a week. Just like his golf on a dangerous Stadium Course, he kept it together.

“It’s such an amazing feeling – playing amongst the game’s best, to come out on top, to do it on Mother’s Day … it really is magical,” Kuchar said.

Along with the pressure of trying to win, Na had to put up with some heckling. Already considered a slow player, he struggles to take the club back without practice swings and waggles, and over the ball he could hear fans saying, “Pull the trigger” or “Hit it.”

“I backed off and they’re booing me,” Na said. “I said, ‘Look, guys, I backed off because of you guys.’ … But it is what it is. I also felt that a lot of people were turning towards me and pulling for me, which I really appreciate.”

Kuchar won for only the fourth time in his career, and the first time since the 2010 Barclays when Martin Laird three-putted the last hole and lost in a playoff.

Laird made the strongest run on a cloudy, breezy afternoon, tying for the lead with this third straight birdie on No. 12. Laird nearly went in the water on the 18th, missed a 6-foot par putt for a 67 and wound up in a four-way tie for second.

Rickie Fowler, going for his second straight win, tried to make it interesting with a birdie on the island-green 17th to get within two shots. Kuchar watched from across the water on the 16th green, and then rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt to give him a three-shot lead going to the par-3 17th. Every shot matters standing on a tee and looking at an island. Kuchar found land, three-putted for bogey and made a regulation par at the end.

Fowler missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th and shot 70. Ben Curtis made a 10-foot birdie on the 18th for a 68, while Zach Johnson shot 68 to join the tie for second.

Luke Donald finished alone in sixth after a 66, not quite enough to replace Rory McIlroy at No. 1 in the world.

Tiger Woods shot 40 on his front nine and rallied for a 73, at least finishing The Players Championship under par. That was the smallest of consolations. Far more alarming was that he tied for 40th, the first time in his career that he has finished no better than 40th in three straight tournaments. The streak began after a five-shot win at Bay Hill for his first PGA Tour title in 30 months.

“Just keep working. Keep working,” Woods said when asked what he could take out of the week.

Kuchar finished at 13-under 275 and earned $1.71 million, the largest payoff in golf. He goes to career-best No. 5 in the world ranking, and more importantly, to No. 3 in the Ryder Cup standings.

Curtis, who started the season without a full PGA Tour card, now has three top 5 finishes in the last month, including a win at the Texas Open. He was slowed by a double bogey on the par-3 eighth, and simply couldn’t catch up.

PGA minority championships

Texas-Pan American captain Kevin Kirakossian shot a 1-under 71 and the Broncs rallied for their fifth Men’s Division I title in the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship at Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Bethune-Cookman won the Women’s Division for the record ninth time.

Texas-Pan American, five strokes behind Tennessee State entering the day, finished at 40-over 904 at PGA Golf Club to edge Tennessee State by two shots. Bethune-Cookman and Savannah State tied for third at 911.

Savannah State’s Cedomir Ilic, from Serbia, closed with a 72 to take medalist honors at 5-over 220.

The Bethune-Cookman women’s team finished at 52-over 916 for an eight-stroke victory over South Carolina State.