‘It’s crushing’: Kuchar rocked by Spieth’s rally at Birkdale

SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND » Matt Kuchar felt as if he had the claret jug in his grasp. He said he could taste victory, finally breaking through in a major championship after all those top-10 finishes.

In the end, and without doing much wrong, he was a bystander to one of the greatest shows in golf history.

“All you can really do,” Kuchar said, “is sit back, tip your cap and say, ‘Well done.”’

Kuchar was magnanimous as ever after seeing the British Open title wrested away from him by Jordan Spieth, who played the final five holes in 5 under at Royal Birkdale to win by three shots. But this one really hurt. “It’s hard to explain,” Kuchar said, pausing to find the words. “It’s crushing . ... You work so hard to get to this position. And to have a chance to make history and win a championship. You don’t get that many opportunities.”

Kuchar’s wife, Sybi, and kids, Cameron and Carson, two had even flown in unannounced for the occasion. He talked to them over the phone Saturday night, and thought they’d be in Colorado. Instead they were at the back of the 18th green when Kuchar saw them for the first time, “a teary surprise” as he called it.

He gave Sybi a kiss then knelt down to hug his boys. Cameron was crying. After a roller-coaster back nine when he held it all together in the most trying of circumstances, daddy’s emotions also showed. Spieth said Kuchar was particularly emotional in the scorer’s tent just off No.18.

Kuchar started the final round three shots back from Spieth but had a front-row seat as his playing partner’s game, especially his putting, imploded. When Kuchar rolled in a 9-foot birdie putt at No. 9 and Spieth missed a 4-foot par putt moments later, they were tied for the lead.

They still were when they reached the 13th tee, where Spieth sent his drive 60 yards right, over the gallery and into thick rough on top of a hill. He wouldn’t play another shot for 21 minutes, while he decided where to take relief from an unplayable lie.

Graeme McDowell tweeted that Kuchar was “collateral damage” amid Spieth’s travails, but Kuchar said it didn’t interrupt his momentum. He understood the significance of the moment, knew Spieth was in trouble, so he and caddie John Wood “made ourselves comfy and told some stories.”

Spieth escaped with a bogey, but Kuchar made par to take a one-shot lead with five holes remaining.