Matt Kuchar won the PGA Tours first Fall Series event ,The Turning Stone Resort Championship, on the 6th hole of sudden death playoff with a par, beating Vaughn Taylor for the 1.08 million dollar first prize. This pushed his winnings to $2,375,493 and he jumped up on the money list from 59th to 25th place. In the world rankings he went from 98th to 56th , another good jump. He is having his record year on Tour and is in place to get exemptions into the Masters and US and British Opens. He now has a two year exemption on the tour.
For all of you who have been reading about and working on the PPGS ¾ limited turn vertical swing, seeing Matt Kuchar's swing must have made your eyes bug out. If ever there was an UN-PPGS, Matt Kuchar's swing is it. Even the commentators numerously spoke about his super flat swing and wondered how a guy 6'4' could play with a swing that flat. And calling his swing flat is almost as close as calling a pancake flat.
I put a plane line on his swing and his backswing was, in a visual estimate, well over a foot to maybe a foot and a half below a PPGS plane as determined by a line from the neck to the ball. His finish was higher but still close to a foot below plane. I really cannot recall any player on the PGA Tour with as flat a swing as Kuchar is presently using. And the commentators speaking about it as often as they did seem to imply that they too were seeing the flattest swing they ever saw on Tour.
Flat or not Matt, won got a nice trophy, a big check and the exemptions. The announcers mentioned that he changed his swing around 4 or 5 years ago and went through a tremendously long period of basically, from that time to this year, playing poorly. Matt himself, in his winning interview, mentioned how tough the game can be and how it mirrors life with its ups and downs. On Golf Central they did a segment recounting his swing change and the multi years of struggle and poor play, getting the swing to finally work, culminating with his victory at Turning Stone and his really good 2009 year on Tour.
The point I think that needs to be made here is that, for starters, he did win with this super flat swing. So, as many people say, there is more than one way to swing successfully and Matt proved that. The bigger point is that, as I say about golf swings , there are swings that conform to physics and physiology and are thus simpler and easier to learn because they conform to the laws, as is the case with the PPGS. And swings that conform have less margin of error as compared to those (rotational and flat swings) that do not and thus have a higher degree of error and also place a lot more stress and strain on the body.
More error means more practice to learn it and then to maintain it. More stress and strain means more and greater potential for injury, especially when one has to practice more to learn it and maintain it. Matt Kuchar made the decision to change to a flat swing, committed to it, and stuck with it. And as the commentators and Golf Central analysts reported, he went through 3 or 4 years of playing poorly before reaping the rewards and finally having this good 2009 playing season and his Turning Stone Victory.
The point I make here is Matt Kuchar is a great athlete and golfer, with phenomenal talent and skills. He works at golf full time as it is the source of his income to support his family. Yet, with all his talent, time, dedication, devotion and practice, it took him 4 years to get the flat swing to work well and consistent enough to play good golf and finally have a good playing year that ultimately lead him to the winner's circle. How many golfers, who don't have Matt's talent, skills and playing time, can afford 4 years to learn a high degree of error swing. And let's not forget about the high degree of stress and strain that leads to pain.
Congratulations to Matt on his victory and great 2009 season on the PGA Tour. The big question is twofold. Will his swing hold up to keep him playing well? And, will his body hold up so he can keep playing? Time will answer both of these questions. Matt is a great guy and I have watched him play against Clemson since his college days at Georgia Tech. I hope so, and wish him continued success.
The Surge!