Kuchar at the US Open 2013: Time waits for major man Matt at Merion

Kuchar's swing is totally in the groove

Romilly Evans profiles Matt Kuchar, who is in the form of his life as he seeks a belated major breakthrough at the US Open

While the world's dynamic duo have their engines resting up on blocks for some serious renovation ahead of the US Open, Matt Kuchar enjoyed the perfect tune-up at Memorial. He doesn't even need a lick of paint, just keep the motor running for Merion.

But there was a time when Kuchar had "fix-me-up" written all over a face which now simply sports a goofy smile. For despite a stellar amateur career (where he was the top collegiate golfer stateside, winning the US Amateur title and becoming the low novice at both The Masters and the US Open), Kuchar struggled to make it as a professional at the turn of the millennium.

History is just one thing after another. But the annals of "Kooch" started with one disappointment after another. Sure, it wasn't quite the 21 consecutive missed cuts of Justin Rose's nightmare transition to the pro ranks. Yet this easy-going character was only making the hard-yardage books. 

Even Kuchar's breakthrough victory at the 2002 Honda "Not Such A" Classic proved a false dawn. And by 2005, the Floridian was probing the lows of the Money List and had lost his playing privileges. The can't-miss-kid had missed the target. To most commentators, there was no way back. And a supposed superman was banished to the phantom zone of the satellite tours.

Kuch himself succumbed to the detractors, falling back on his university degree in management to retain a desk job in the city. However, that superficial uncertainty belied an inner fire to claim back his rightful place at the top of the game. "I knew where I belonged," said Kuchar. "I just needed a new swing to get me back there."

Rededication quickly followed, alongside his long-term coach, Chris O'Connell. A more horizontal plain - unusual for such a tall man - was their blueprint for generating a repetitive swing. And the radical redesign soon brought with it relentless improvement. Kuch had got his new groove.

First came the low-hanging fruit of safely reclaiming his PGA card. Then Kuchar climbed higher up the tree to the really good stuff. Since 2010 he has amassed a staggering 36 top tens (more than any other player on tour) and four victories.

The latest of those, of course, arrived last week at The Memorial at the course that Jack Nicklaus built. Nicklaus knows a thing or two about winning the big ones and fancies Kuchar's chances of riding his hot streak all the way to breakthrough major success at Merion next Sunday. Certainly, even Kuch's list of titles exhibit a compelling progression -The Players, World Matchplay, Memorial - just a lob-wedge shy of the major league.

So on the eve of his 35th birthday, it's not too late for Kuchar to step up. His smile-masked forerunner, Phil Mickelson, didn't get going till he was 33 and now has four majors. While Ben Hogan, a man whose simple swing O'Connell sought to mimic, was 34 when he won his first of nine. And Hogan got hit by a bus along the way. So Kuchar's next stop in Pennsylvania is coming at exactly the right time.

"There's definitely a learning curve to accepting your strengths and weaknesses," admits Kuchar. "It's taken a long time (only one win in my first nine years on tour), but now I don't feel like there's any real weaknesses in my game." Betfair layers evidently agree, as the past couple of months have seen the 34-year-old narrow in the betting to 2726/1 fourth-favourite for the season's second major.

Kuchar takes prominent position among all the recent stats that count - scoring average, fairways found and least three-putts. And while he isn't the longest in the game, neither is the host venue of Merion, playing a diminutive 7,000 yards from its tips. 

Few players actually enjoy US Open week, such is the sadistic examination the USGA perennially pose. So where better for the self-styled Grinning Goon to have the last laugh at all those who doubted him?