ORLANDO — The Kuchar family has a picture of son Cameron on the back of a driving range in Las Vegas wearing diapers and appearing to give his father Matt a lesson. As Cameron grew, so too did his love of the game, to the point that the 16-year-old now dreams of one day playing on the PGA Tour and winning the Masters.
Team Kuchar warmed up for this year’s PNC Championship at their home course in Jupiter, Florida, The Bear’s Club, by training with fellow father-son teams Justin and Mike Thomas and Justin and Luke Leonard.
The pair made it look easy on a rainy day at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club, where the Kuchars fired a 15-under 57 in the scramble format, one shot off the tournament record. They hold a three-shot lead over four teams at 12 under.
The Kuchars played the first 12 holes in 11 under.
“I think back to when I was 16 years old,” said Matt, a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour. “It’s just leaps and bounds ahead of where I was, just as a quality golfer. Feels like day-in and day-out, he’s going to play some pretty good golf, and he’s got a great network of friends that now he goes and practices, plays with and plays tournaments with. He sees Charlie Woods down there a lot, a bunch of other guys down in Jupiter.”
Photos: 2023 PNC Championship
Matt’s father, Peter, agrees, noting that Matt’s game really took off around age 15, yet Cameron is already so much farther ahead. That’s largely because of Matt.
“I was a tennis player,” said Peter. “Matt just learned it all on his own. He didn’t learn anything from me.”
Matt’s son Carson, who played last year in this event, is a nationally ranked junior player and the reason the family moved down to south Florida. Though the move has certainly helped Cameron, too, who notes that the two-minute cart ride from their house to the driving range is a big improvement, and there’s always a game to be had.
Cameron plays most of his tournament golf on the South Florida PGA Junior Medalist Tour along with Charlie Woods and Luke Leonard.
Team Woods opened the PNC with a 64.
“I drove the ball really good today,” said Charlie, “didn’t miss a fairway, and still managed to shoot 8 under. We just suck at putting.”
Added Tiger: “That sums it up right there.”
Bernhard Langer is a four-time winner of the PNC, twice with his youngest son Jason (2014 and 2019) and twice with his oldest, Stefan (2005 and 2006). Jason, 26, is a former collegiate player at Penn who now works in finance in New York City. He’s making his sixth appearance at the PNC with dad this week. They’re currently in a share of second with the Singhs, Goosens and Duvals.
“I saw Jason played incredibly well for somebody who doesn’t play much golf anymore,” said Langer. “Hit a lot of quality shots.”
