But there was Kuchar on Sunday, that goofy grin from ear to ear, beaming. But when he followed two excellent shots on the 10th with a 13-foot putt for eagle, the gold was suddenly within touching distance.
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“It’s just an unbelievable week, ” said Kuchar, 38, who has seven PGA Tour victories, the biggest coming at the 2012 Players Championship.
“I have no regrets really, I did as well as I could today and congratulations to my good friend who won it today”. I knew when I was out there playing, there were times I knew I was in third place.
Rose’s wife Kate is a former gymnast who competed for Britain at worldwide level, although her speciality of acrobatic gymnastics is not part of the Olympic programme. It was going to come down to who finished better at the end.
The 2016 Masters Champion was joined on that number by American Rickie Fowler, while compatriot Bubba Watson had another hard day with the putter and finished five shots behind the medals on eight under par. Patrick Reed (64) tied for 11th at 6 under. And finally, rather than challenging for a “backdoor medal”, Rickie Fowler moved the wrong way on the leaderboard, posting a final-round 74 to finish tied for 37th at even par.
After holing out for a birdie four on the 18th, Rose punched the air in celebration and fell into the arms of his wife, Kate, before savouring the medal ceremony.
“It would be great to win a medal, we have been waiting a long time”.
“It’s a thrill of a lifetime to be associated with that, and then to see Matt do that”. They are all great competitors and hungry, and they will want an experience like this. “And that’s what he did”.
Named to the U.S. team only after Jordan Spieth withdrew due to concerns over the Zika virus, Kuchar had already moved into the bronze position after going four-under on the front nine. Knowing that Rose was in tight for birdie, Stenson rammed his birdie putt some 7 feet by the cup and missed the par putt.
The overnight leader was neck-and-neck with Stenson throughout much of the final round but he hit a lovely approach shot to within feet of the pin at the last hole. He missed out on a chance to set a new Olympic record of 62 and maybe force a playoff for silver when his birdie putt at 18 came up inches short.
An avid table tennis player who has faced off before against Olympians in friendly matches, Kuchar said he is hoping to buy an Olympic ping pong table when he gets back to the United States. “I had been holding it in all day”, Rose said. “For me, I grew up that way”.
Now she is setting her sights on Olympic gold.
The sport has not been played at the Olympics since 1903. When it did become an Olympic sport, the lights went off and I said, ‘How fantastic, I can’t believe I now potentially have the opportunity’. Golf made its heralded return to the Olympics last weekend with much fanfare and drama down the stretch. “I pyres it and got a result”.
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You weren’t saying that last month, Rory..
