Posted April 9, 2011, 12:00 am
BY

Staff Writer

Kuchar finds his rhythm

Matt Kuchar wouldn't say that his approach on the short, par-4 third hole necessarily served as a kick-start for a solid scoring Saturday.

The knockdown wedge he nearly holed out seemed to right the ship for the former Georgia Tech star, though.

Despite a roller-coaster round that featured six birdies, Kuchar shot 3-under-par 69 on Saturday to move to 4-under, tied for 14th.

With Rory McIlroy's strong finish, Kuchar trails by eight entering the final round.

He made birdies on Nos. 6-8, each time locking in on his approach.

He stuck it to six feet on the par-3 sixth, eight feet on the par-4 seventh and five feet on the par-5 eighth.

He added two back-nine birdies with a tap-in on the par-5 13th and a short putt on the par-4 14th.

Kuchar couldn't get a putt to drop down the stretch, and he wound up with 32 putts for the round.

As he made his way through the grounds Saturday, Kuchar got constant reminders of his role as a fan favorite at Augusta.

His mother, Meg, believes fans' memories stem from his Masters debut in 1998 as an amateur.

"I absolutely think that the fans in Augusta really cheer for him," she said.

From AugustaChronicle.com »