Matt Kuchar climbs into contention at John Deere Classic after a Saturday 67 at TPC Deere Run
That would be one Matt Kuchar. Kooch fired a 4-under 67 in windy conditions Saturday at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. He walked off the golf course at 11 under, and at the time, was just a shot off the lead.
Kuchar has made nine of 11 cuts in 2025 but he doesn't have a top-10 finish. His best outing was a tie for 18th in April at the Valero Texas Open. He does have a T25 at the Memorial but the rest of his finishes this season are T43, T56, T42, MC, T32, T56, T53 and a MC last week in Detroit.
Safe to say, this week has energized him.
"Listen, I still feel like a kid. I still get excited to come to those tournaments," he said. "One of the unique things about the game of golf is every week we all start at even par, we all have a chance of doing something great."
He then made a comparison to another professional sport.
"I think if you happen to be a professional baseball player and your team starts 10-40, it would be tough to keep going, but golf gives that you hope every week that you show up and you got a chance to do something great," he explained. "So I show up here excited. I show up hoping to do something great this week."
Kuchar, 47, is a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour but hasn't won since the 2019 Sony Open in Hawaii. This week marks his 574th start on the circuit. He started the week 135th in the FedEx Cup standings so a strong finish this week would be a huge boost.
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The changes that are coming in 2026, going from 125 card-carrying members to 100, all those things are working in our favor as we talk to players. Ultimately, being late in the schedule — two weeks after the last signature event, two weeks before the Open Championship, and just a handful of weeks before the playoffs — it's been a really big recruiting tool for us when we talk to players and their agents. A: Oh yeah. And how many of those guys have gone on to have complete stardom who got their first win here at the John Deere Classic? It's awesome. The first guy who comes to mind is Jordan Spieth, right? 2013, 19-year-old kid. Comes back here and wins again in 2015 when the entire golf world told him he shouldn't be at the John Deere Classic. You know, I think in our conversations with players and agents, they recognize that it's a launching pad. And there's a decades-long thought process behind the sponsor exemptions to identify the next wave of talent. 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