Sweat was still streaming down Matt Kuchar’s face after his even-par round late Thursday afternoon as he made a beeline from the scoring area inside the Augusta National clubhouse back out to the practice range. Kuchar couldn’t wait to pull his driver out back out of his bag to start doing some tweaking.
“I was so excited coming in knowing I was hitting it good,” Kuchar said, clearly flummoxed. “I got off to a good start and then the driver just went …”
Kuchar didn’t finish the sentence. He went right into a diatribe about hitting a bad drive on the way to a bogey at No. 7 and then an even worse hook on the way to double-bogey on the par-5 eighth hole.
Kuchar was able to get the screws tightened long enough to get through Amen Corner with some prayers answered. He chipped in for eagle on 13 and then followed that with birdie 15 to get back into contention. But his Bridgestone J815 driver betrayed him again as he bogeyed the final two holes of the day.
“The wheels just fell apart with the driver and normally that’s a strength of mine,” he said. “It was awfully frustrating, not being confident with the tee ball, and it cost me. Driving legitimately cost me six shots today.”
The good news is Kuchar by no means shot himself out of the tournament. Though he sits eight strokes behind first-round leader Jordan Spieth, the Masters record book is filled with champions who entered the second round at even-par.
“I’ll get it figured out,” Kuchar said. “Driving is one of my strengths and I’ve got some things I can try to do and hone it in. … Even is not the worst score considering how bad I drove it. I’ll get the driver clicking again (Friday).”
Kuchar was one of three Georgia Tech alums in field for the 79th Masters. Cameron Tringale, a 27-year-old playing in his first Masters, birdied his first two holes of the day on the way to a first-round 71. And 1987 champion Larry Mize, making his 32nd Masters appearance, shot 78.
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