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ing the 2012 Players Championship and the WGC Match Play this season, and he believes he’s now ready to take a major leap. “I always thought you were supposed to take the appropriate steps to get to the next level,” he said. “I felt like you kind of start playing well, you start top-tenning, you start having a lot of chances and then you win a tournament. You start doing the same thing in bigger tourna- ments. You start having better and better results and you take those steps and feel more and more comfortable in the big tournaments, majors included, and I feel like I’ve made the right progressions.”
Phil Mickelson Brandt Snedeker
Before he was slowed by a rib injury after he prevailed at Pebble Beach, the 32-year-old Vanderbilt man was clearly the hottest player on the PGA Tour. In his fi rst fi ve starts this year, he won, was second twice, was third and tied for 23rd. He cooled considerably for a while, but now seems back in form, contending for the Masters title, and should be in the mix for his fi rst major title at Merion. Af- ter he won at Pebble Beach, Snedeker said, “I know that if I play the way I’ve played the last three weeks, that there’s very few people in the world that can beat me… I don’t hit the ball very long, I’m not the best ball-striker. Somehow all my pars end up being pretty good at the end of the day.” After winning at Pebble Beach, he moved up to No. 4 in the world, his highest ranking ever. “I would love to be known as the best American golfer,” he said. “I’ve got a long way to go to do that.”
Matt Kuchar
Considered one of the most consistent players in the game, the 32-year-old Florida native still has not been able to break through with a major champion- ship. Kuchar has won fi ve times on the PGA Tour, includ-
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T e 42-year-old California native known as Lefty and Phil the T rill hasn’t won a major since the 2010 Masters, but certainly has to be considered among the favorites to win his fi rst U.S. Open title at Merion. He has had seven top-fi ve fi nishes in America’s national championship, including fi ve times as a runner- up, and says he’s as fi t as he has ever been. Mick- elson started swinging a golf club at 18 months old, playing left-handed as a mirror image of his father’s swing. He turned pro at the 1992 Open and won fi ve events before he was 25. He has since gone on to win 41 times on the PGA Tour, includ- ing three Masters victories among his four major titles. He also played on his record ninth U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2012, fi nishing with a 3-1 record in a year when he also was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
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AFP/GETTY IMAGES
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