Funkerstation » good to see him get reward fo

ARDMORE, Pa. -- He was the smiling kid with his dad on the bag in his first U.S. Open, eager to be himself and not the guy he was following. Matt Kuchar never expected to be the next Tiger Woods, mostly because even then he knew it wasnt possible. Winning the U.S. Amateur a year after Woods recorded his third straight amateur title got him into the 1998 Open, but it would be a long time before the two were in the same conversation again. TSNs live coverage of the U.S. Open begins with the first round, Thursday morning at 9am et/6am pt. You can also watch bonus coverage on TSN.ca Thursday at 9am et/6am pt and catch a recap of the days action at Midnight et/9pm pt. "I was never thinking because I won the amateur the year after Tiger that I was the next Tiger Woods," Kuchar said. "That was never something that I thought about or thought I was going to follow the same path as Tiger. I knew I had a different path that was for me." That path was rocky at times, but Kuchar never lost faith in his talent. He rebuilt his swing, found his way back on the PGA Tour after a brief hiccup, and started contending in tournaments. Now hes in another conversation this week at Merion Golf Club. Hes joined a select few as perhaps the best player who hasnt won a major championship. "I dont know that Im quite in that talk yet," Kuchar said Wednesday. "I know that a lot of people have been yelling out that they have got me in their pools and theyre picking me this week. But we hear a lot of that talk every week." Perhaps Kuchar should start listening more. Coming off a win two weeks ago at Memorial -- where his young son got a high five from host Jack Nicklaus when Kuchar won -- hes high on a lot of lists as a possible winner at this Open. That hes not shying away from the talk says something about how confident he is about his game. "I feel like Im playing some good golf," Kuchar said. "Im looking to continue to play good golf. Certainly a major championship, a U.S. Open, is one Im geared up for. Im looking forward to competing and trying to put my name on this trophy." Kuchar was still an amateur when he played his first U.S. Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco in 1998. His father -- who drew some criticism for his exuberance -- was carrying his bag and on Sunday it was both Fathers Day and the golfers 20th birthday Fans sang Happy Birthday to him and yelled "Happy Fathers Day" to his father as they walked to tees, but the real highlight was a 14th place finish. It paid no money but showed Kuchar that he could compete with players a level above him. Three years later he was a regular on the PGA Tour, making $500,000 in his rookie year. The next year he won the Honda Classic, giving him a two-year exemption on tour and marking him as one of the rising stars of the game. Then it all started to fall apart. Kuchar began missing cuts with regularity, finally ending up in golfs minor leagues -- what was then the Nationwide Tour -- while he retooled his game and tried to find a swing that worked as well as the swings of players who were on the big circuit. "I think that out here there was a definite learning curve on the PGA Tour of just being comfortable standing on the range, hitting balls next to Ernie Els or Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson and not just being in awe," Kuchar said. "And trying to say, Well, I cant hit it like that, what do I need to do to hit it like that? " He was a tennis player who took up golf when his mother upgraded their membership at a country club as a Christmas present. Playing better was never an issue since he quickly became one of the top -- and finally THE top -- amateur in the country. Coming back on tour in 2007 he played well enough to keep his card, though barely. The next year he won $1.5 million, and the next year cracked the top 25. Kuchar has already won twice this year, at the Match Play Championship and the Memorial, his sixth career win. Hes moved to No. 4 in the world golf rankings, and hasnt missed a cut all year while averaging 69.84 strokes a round. Hes a ball striker who rarely makes mistakes, and a putter who excels on fast greens, a combination that has oddsmakers and fans lining the fairways at Merion thinking he has a good shot to win his first major this week. "I think (the) great thing about the game of golf is theres no clear-cut favourites," Kuchar said.Reds Jerseys 2019 .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Stitched Reds Jerseys .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. https://www.cheapredsjerseys.us/ . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. Cincinnati Reds Shirts . The third-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, served five aces and broke Wickmayer, also a former winner in 2009, five times. "The result looked easier than it really was," Ivanovic said. Wholesale Reds Jerseys .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city.Such a triumph may have been better for Collingwood earlier in their AFL season, but coach Nathan Buckley says hell take a 32-point upset of Greater Western Sydney any time of the year.A dominant second quarter on Saturday sparked an extraordinary Magpies resurgence to overrun the Giants 19.11 (125) to 14.9 (93) and shatter their perfect Spotless Stadium record.Travis Cloke stuck it to his critics with four goals and Jesse White booted three to offset Jeremy Camerons five majors and Jonathon Pattons three.It was the Pies third-straight victory and leaves them 7-8 with seven matches remaining.You can only look after whats going on right now and it was a really positive performance, Buckley said.It was the type of footy that, for the most part, we like to play.The first quarter was a little bit shy of it and we were sloppy in the last, but the second and third quarters were dominant.The Giants failure to showcase their top-four credentials on home turf means they slide to fourth spot and are at risk of slipping further down the congested top eight.Not that the crowd of 13,483 would have known it was coming after an opening term in which the home side ruled in all the major statistics.Early signs were ominous for the Pies, who struggled to deal with the Giants superb ball movement, which yielded a 24-point lead at the first break.Shane Mumford looked set for another cracker, imposing himself with 11 first-quarter hitouts.But where Mumford shone in the first term, it wass his ruck counterpart Brodie Grundy who reigned in the second and became pivotal in the victory with a total 28 hitouts, 26 disposals and one goal.ddddddddddddMumford was on top of Brodie and they were just able to score from stoppage too easily ... Brodies last three quarters against his direct opponent were as good as hes played.Hes in a sweet vein of form at the moment so its good to see him get reward for effort.The Pies piled on nine goals in the second quarter to execute a stunning 42-point turnaround and lead 76-58 at halftime.Former Giants Adam Treloar (27 disposals) and Taylor Adams (31 disposals) led the charge, which only ballooned as the match continued and the hosts momentum nearly ground to a halt.An eight-goal run lifted the Pies to a 30-point lead during a third term underpinned by direct and efficient play.Stephen Coniglio played a lone hand in the Giants midfield, recording a team-high 30 disposals, 14 contested possessions and 17 handballs.But Buckleys outfit kept the pressure on, twisting the knife with 20 more tackles overall than the Giants and outdoing them by nine clearances and 13 contested possessions.They were clearly too good for us, Giants coach Leon Cameron said.We obviously havent returned after the bye in the shape we needed to.But Collingwood, to their credit, after quarter-time were just too hard for us. 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