Wilkommen bei den Schatten » thdrawing after nine holes at The Players

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Most of the perks from winning the Memorial were evident to Matt Kuchar soon after his 20-foot birdie putt tumbled into the final hole Sunday. He looked just beyond the 18th green to where three-year-old son Carson was giving a high-five to tournament host Jack Nicklaus. He had the first multiple-win season of his PGA Tour career. Kuchar went to a career-best No. 4 in the world ranking. He is all but assured of returning to Muirfield Village in October as part of the Presidents Cup team. "To walk off the green and to greet Mr. Nicklaus and have him congratulate me, thats something Ill certainly never forget," he said. Perhaps the greatest benefit was one only Kuchar could feel -- confidence. And thats a big deal with the U.S. Open approaching. Kuchar missed only one fairway and held off a hard-charging Kevin Chappell over the last three holes to close with a 4-under 68 for a two-shot victory. The win came one week after he was runner-up by one shot at the Colonial. "Great golf breeds more great golf," Kuchar said. "Winning tournaments breeds winning more tournaments. Anytime you can get comfortable playing in that final group, finishing off a tournament, winning a tournament is a huge amount of confidence. Heading into Merion, Ill have a lot of confidence. "Im looking forward to my chances there at Merion." He sure played the kind of golf that goes a long way at the U.S. Open, which starts June 13 at Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., both shot a 71 in the final round to finish tied for 21st. Muirfield Village was such a demanding test that Tiger Woods had two triple bogeys in the same tournament for the first time since 1997 and wound up with the second-highest tournament score in his career at 8-over 296. "It happens. It happens to us all," Woods said. "Go home next week and practice." Not having Woods around didnt make the task any easier for Kuchar. Right when he thought the tournament was in hand, Chappell birdied three of his last four holes. Two shots behind going to the 18th, Chappell stuffed his approach to tap-in range for birdie. Kuchar needed only two putts from 20 feet for the win, and instead he rolled the birdie putt into the hole and thrust his fist into the air as he smiled. Hes always smiling, and he had good reason on this day. He joined Woods has the only players to win more than once this year on tour -- Kuchar also won the Match Play Championship in February -- and his game is peaking heading into a summer of majors, the one missing piece for the 35-year-old American. "His bad shots hit greens. And hes really good with the putter," Chappell said. "And he just doesnt make very many mistakes." Chappell, who missed four birdie attempts inside 10 feet on the front nine, still closed with a 68. He played his last 25 holes without a bogey. Kyle Stanley ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch to end the front nine and pull within one shot, but he fell back with a bogey on the par-5 11th and never caught up. Stanley fell out of a tie for second on the 17th hole, and it was costly. A runner-up finish would have put him inside the top 50 and allowed him to skip 36 holes of U.S. Open qualifying on Monday. He closed with a 71 and finished alone in third, which will move him to just inside the top 60. The top 60 after next week are exempt to the U.S. Open. "Mentally, Im pretty drained right now," Stanley said. "I would have shot a million this week if I didnt make putts. So Im really happy about that." Kuchar finished at 12-under 276 and will be looked upon as one of the favourites in two weeks at the U.S. Open. "There are a couple of things I thought were missing from my pedigree," Kuchar said. "A major championship is on the list, and a multiple-win season was on the list. Thats something that at the beginning of the year when I set goals, I wanted to have a multiple-win year. And making the Presidents Cup team was on the list. ... To have kind of sealed the deal with winning this tournament feels really good. "Having a multiple-win season is nice to be able to check that one off the list." Nicklaus offered some help on that other item. "If Matt would ask me, What would you do coming up with Merion? I would only," Nicklaus said before Kuchar leaned into his microphone and interrupted him. "What would you do coming up with Merion?" Kuchar said. Nicklaus suggested going a week early, as he always did in winning his record 18 majors. By the time Nicklaus was done talking, Kuchar was making plans to go to Merion on Tuesday. Woods already has been to Merion, a course he had not seen. Muirfield Village was a course he knows well, with a record five wins. What followed can only be written off as a most peculiar week. Woods had won three of his last four tournaments -- the exception was a tie for fourth at the Masters -- and then he turned in some shocking scores. Woods had a 44 on the back nine Saturday, the worst 9-hole score of his pro career. He tied for 65th and was 20 shots behind, the largest deficit in a full-field event. He was 30 shots behind at Firestone in 2010 at the depth of his struggles, and he was 20 shots behind in the 1996 Tour Championship at age 20. Both those tournaments have limited fields without a cut. He attributed this week to his putting, and it was hard to argue. Woods is leading the tour in the key putting statistic, and he was 71st out of 73 players this week. He had a pair of three-putts from inside 5 feet. Rory McIlroy closed with a 72 and finished 18 shots behind. Kuchar was at his best off the tee. He didnt miss a fairway until the 17th hole, when he found a bunker to the right of the fairway. Chappell, coming off a 10-foot par save on the 16th hole, made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th to get within two shots. Kuchar had to make a 5-foot par putt to keep the two-shot margin, and Chappell kept coming at him. He started walking after his approach to the 18th when he hit it. "There at the end, it got scary," Kuchar said. "He made a great run at the end." Kuchar never looks as though he is under much stress, and for so much of Sunday, he wasnt. Starting the final round with a two-shot lead, he made a 15-foot birdie putt on the opening hole and led by at least two shots for all but two holes. Cheap Nike Shoes Free Shipping . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Cheap Nike Shoes For Sale . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. https://www.wholesalenikeshoesauthentic.com/ . LOUIS -- Lance Lynn was one of the more enthusiastic participants as the St. Cheap Nike Shoes Authentic . With the short-handed Warriors needing help from someone -- anyone -- to stop a three-game skid, ONeal returned from right knee and groin injuries that had sidelined him for four games and put up season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds. It was just enough to help lift Golden State to a 102-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Discount Nike Shoes . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. NASSAU, Bahamas -- Tiger Woods used to have no trouble returning to golf after a long layoff.That was when he was much younger, before the injuries and surgeries began piling up, before the annual arrival of more young players who made golf stronger than ever.Woods first had to miss tournaments because of injury going into the 2003 season. Woods had surgery on his left knee during the offseason and didnt play for two months until he returned at Torrey Pines.He won by four shots.Woods stayed away from golf for 10 weeks in 2007, the year his first child was born. He returned at his Target World Challenge.He won by seven shots.But this is different.The Hero World Challenge presents the stiffest challenge on so many levels, starting with the fact it was two back surgeries that kept him out for 15 months, an injury that left him so debilitated that at times he wondered if he had played his last tournament.Im going to be focused, Im going to do what I can do and put the ball in the correct spots, give myself looks and try to bury these putts and post scores, and get myself in that mix come Sunday afternoon, Woods said.That mission, though it seems impossible, starts Thursday.A look at some of the other times Woods came back from a long break:June 15, 2006 -- The death of his father, Earl, caused Woods to sit out for two months, including the Masters, until he showed up at Winged Foot for the U.S. Open. He struck the ball beautifully during Wednesdays practice round, but once the tournament started, it took him half of a round to get going, and it cost him. Woods shot 76, followed with another 76 and missed the cut for the first time in a major. He played nine more stroke-play tournaments that year, winning six of them and finishing runner-up in the other three.June 12, 2008 -- Woods had arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage in his left knee two days after the Masters, and choose not to fix his ACL to avoid a long recovery. Doctors discovered two stress fractures in his left tibia and he was advised to rest for six weeks. Instead, he played the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and woon in a playoff for his 14th major.dddddddddddd.Feb. 25, 2009 -- After nearly nine months away to recover from reconstructive knee surgery, Woods returned at the Match Play Championship and beat Brendan Jones of Australia in the first round. He lost to Tim Clark in the second round, but won at Bay Hill two tournaments later.April 8, 2010 -- Woods disappeared from public for two months after revelations of multiple extramarital affairs. He chose to end a five-month break at the Masters, under the greatest scrutiny. He broke par in the opening round for the first time at Augusta National and tied for fourth, five shots behind Phil Mickelson.Aug. 4, 2011 -- After withdrawing after nine holes at The Players Championship with leg injuries, Woods returned nearly three months later at the Bridgestone Invitational, which he had won seven times. He opened with a 68 and tied for 37th. The next week, he missed the cut at the PGA Championship.June 26, 2014 -- Woods had his first back surgery in late March that knocked him out of the Masters. He tried to return two months later -- far too soon, he later conceded -- at his Quicken Loans National at Congressional. With rounds of 74-75, he missed the cut.Dec. 4, 2014 -- After pulling out of Firestone in the final round with back pain and missing the cut the following week at Valhalla, Woods took the rest of the year off to properly heal. He returned at the Hero World Challenge at Isleworth , where he played more rounds than any other course. He tied for 17th, which doesnt sound bad except that it was only an 18-man field. And he finished 26 shots behind Jordan Spieth.April 9, 2015 -- Horrific chipping at Phoenix and Torrey Pines led Woods to take two months off to fix it. He returned at the Masters, his chipping was not a major problem, and he tied for 17th. That was his best finish of the year until the Wyndham Championship.And then he didnt play another tournament. That hiatus ends on Thursday in the Bahamas. ' ' '