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PGA Championship 2019: Five players who could win their first major

By Brandon Raper

FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK - MAY 15: EDITORS NOTE: A POLARIZING FILTER WAS USED TO CAPTURE THIS IMAGE. Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland walks on the 16th green during a practice round prior to the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 15, 2019 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK - MAY 15: EDITORS NOTE: A POLARIZING FILTER WAS USED TO CAPTURE THIS IMAGE. Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland walks on the 16th green during a practice round prior to the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 15, 2019 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images) /
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PGA Championship Matt Kuchar
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA – APRIL 19: Matt Kuchar plays his shot from the 12th tee during the second round of the 2019 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on April 19, 2019 in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Matt Kuchar – the best player never to win a major? Perhaps. He’s nearly shed that title a handful of times over the years, but still it lingers. You might not be thinking about Kuchar right away this week at Bethpage, but he could easily make things interesting on the weekend.

Let’s go ahead and address the most obvious stat of them all. No, Kuchar isn’t a long hitter off the tee, at least not by PGA TOUR standards. He averages a “measly” 291.0 yards with the driver, ranked 120th in 2019. However, what he lacks in power, he more than makes up for with precision.

Kuchar is eighth on TOUR this year in driving accuracy, hitting 71.11 percent of his fairways in regulation. That could be a huge dividing line between him and the pure bombers out there, who despite the softer conditions this week will still find plenty of the longer stuff.

You can almost hear it, really. Kuchar in contention on the weekend, the echoes of New York’s fans screaming “KUUUUUUUUUUUUCH” with yet another birdie dropping. Oh yeah, Kuchar averages more than four of those every round (4.48 – 13th on TOUR). It doesn’t hurt that he hits almost three-fourths of his greens in regulation.

There’s only a few things keeping Kuchar down on this list. He has a checkered history here, to say the least. He missed the cuts in both the 2002 and 2009 editions of the U.S. Open, and his best finish in the Barclays was a T-38 in 2012.

Still, he’s a two-time winner already this season, and he nearly won again in his last start at the RBC Heritage. Throw in a run to the final in the WGC Match Play, and we aren’t far from calling Kuch the most dominant golfer on Tour this year.

Kuchar is a pro’s pro, so it would just be fitting if he turned the PGA Championship into his first major victory. It won’t be easy, but don’t count him out too early.

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