Some might call Matt Kuchar’s choice of footwear unsavory, but it really doesn’t matter what shoes he’s wearing if he’s walking all over the competition. Also, who’s Brendan Steele?
Well, Steele, a University of California-Riverside graduate, is one of the leaders at this year’s edition of the Memorial Tournament. Both he and Kuchar are sitting tied for first at 12-under-par. Muirfield Village Golf Club hasn’t seemed to give either Kuchar nor Steele any issues as they’ve both accumulated at least four birdies on the front nine in both their first and second rounds.
The back nine on day one was a different story for Steele. As Steele made the turn he carded a bogey on the 10th hole, which wasn’t horrid as he was able to bounce back and birdie the par-5 11th. The 14th hole is where Steele hit a snag, the struggle bus came rolling through honking its horn and didn’t leave until Steele rolled in his double bogey putt.
However, after that hole, Steele carved up the last four holes on the back nine and brought his score from three-under to seven-under thanks to some timely birdies and a 154-yard hole out from the 18th fairway. The second day Steele was a bit less flashy carding six birdies and a sole bogey on the par-3 16th hole.
Kuchar’s word for the past few weeks must have been consistency because he’s the definition of it right now. An even better thing about the past four weeks: Kuchar has been consistently impressive landing in the top-10 in his last three events, not including the opportunity he’s given himself to win this week’s event.
Kuchar has posted two straight six-under rounds and has only recorded one bogey throughout the past 36 holes. His one bogey came on the par-5 15th where he had some trouble getting out of the left rough.
Kuchar and Steele tee off at 1:40 PM ET as they look to preserve their lead and possibly outmatch each other.