Road to Stardom - Matt Kuchar

On the heels of three straight wins by Tiger Woods, the 1997 U.S. Amateur was an opportunity for the next rising star to emerge. And it did, in Georgia Tech phenom Matt Kuchar, who became the first Georgia Tech golfer to win the U.S. Amateur since the legendary Bobby Jones won the last of his five titles in 1930, defeating Joel Kribel of Stanford 2 and 1 in the championship match. Kuchar, a rising sophomore at the time, would go on to be named the ACC Player of the Year and win the Fred Haskins Award as the national player of the year as a sophomore in 1998. He won the Dave Williams Award as national player of the year in 2000, earned All-ACC honors all four years and played on the U.S. team in the 1999 Walker Cup. As a PGA Tour professional, he has won nine times and qualified for the Tour Championship nine times.