Nothing seems to bother Matt Kuchar and that is the attitude which is going to win him many more titles like the Players Championship he won on Sunday.

You just look at the tall American and you marvel at his ability to respond to everything with a smile. The demeanour rarely changes, whether he comes in with a round of 67 or 76. Very few players have the ability of Kuchar to smile through good times and bad. He smiles after a birdie and you will most likely see him smiling after a bogey. I think the only two other contemporaries who have this rare quality are Phil Mickelson and Spain's Alvaro Quiros.

Kuchar always tries to engage the gallery by acknowledging them and smiling at them, and they respond with the "Kooooooch"! chorus. He is becoming somewhat like a new Phil Mickelson for the American fans.

Bit unfair

And he has shown time and again that he can play like Phil too. Okay, that's a bit unfair to compare him to someone who is a multiple Major champion and possesses one of the finest short games in the history of the sport, but you get the idea. He is rock solid, hits the ball straight and is very dependable in and around the greens.

It was clear that the Players Championship was a race between five players on Sunday and the first person to experience trouble was Kuchar, when he made a bogey on the gentle par-four opening hole of TPC Sawgrass. He then could only par the easy par-five second, which would have felt like a bogey against the rest of the field.

But Kuchar is extremely competitive and mentally very strong. The only bogey he made after that came on the devilish 17th and a well-played par on the tricky 18th gave him the biggest win of his career.

Just a week after his maiden PGA Tour title at Quail Hollow, Rickie Fowler was a factor again and, if not for a double bogey on the fifth hole, he could have given Kuchar plenty to think about. But now that he has tasted his first win, it is evident he is hungry for more.

I am having a week off in my hometown of Chandigarh as the European Tour visits Spain for the Volvo Match Play, while the PGA Tour is in Texas for the HP Byron Nelson Classic. Being an alumni of Texas Abilene University, the tournament is very dear to me. Mr. Nelson stood for everything that is good with the game of golf and I wish the event much success.

 

Jeev Milkha Singh is a three-time champion on the European Tour.