ARDMORE, Pa. -- He was the smiling kid with his dad on the bag in his first U.S. Open, eager to be himself and not the guy he was following. Matt Kuchar never expected to be the next Tiger Woods, mostly because even then he knew it wasnt possible. Winning the U.S. Amateur a year after Woods recorded his third straight amateur title got him into the 1998 Open, but it would be a long time before the two were in the same conversation again. TSNs live coverage of the U.S. Open begins with the first round, Thursday morning at 9am et/6am pt. You can also watch bonus coverage on TSN.ca Thursday at 9am et/6am pt and catch a recap of the days action at Midnight et/9pm pt. "I was never thinking because I won the amateur the year after Tiger that I was the next Tiger Woods," Kuchar said. "That was never something that I thought about or thought I was going to follow the same path as Tiger. I knew I had a different path that was for me." That path was rocky at times, but Kuchar never lost faith in his talent. He rebuilt his swing, found his way back on the PGA Tour after a brief hiccup, and started contending in tournaments. Now hes in another conversation this week at Merion Golf Club. Hes joined a select few as perhaps the best player who hasnt won a major championship. "I dont know that Im quite in that talk yet," Kuchar said Wednesday. "I know that a lot of people have been yelling out that they have got me in their pools and theyre picking me this week. But we hear a lot of that talk every week." Perhaps Kuchar should start listening more. Coming off a win two weeks ago at Memorial -- where his young son got a high five from host Jack Nicklaus when Kuchar won -- hes high on a lot of lists as a possible winner at this Open. That hes not shying away from the talk says something about how confident he is about his game. "I feel like Im playing some good golf," Kuchar said. "Im looking to continue to play good golf. Certainly a major championship, a U.S. Open, is one Im geared up for. Im looking forward to competing and trying to put my name on this trophy." Kuchar was still an amateur when he played his first U.S. Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco in 1998. His father -- who drew some criticism for his exuberance -- was carrying his bag and on Sunday it was both Fathers Day and the golfers 20th birthday Fans sang Happy Birthday to him and yelled "Happy Fathers Day" to his father as they walked to tees, but the real highlight was a 14th place finish. It paid no money but showed Kuchar that he could compete with players a level above him. Three years later he was a regular on the PGA Tour, making $500,000 in his rookie year. The next year he won the Honda Classic, giving him a two-year exemption on tour and marking him as one of the rising stars of the game. Then it all started to fall apart. Kuchar began missing cuts with regularity, finally ending up in golfs minor leagues -- what was then the Nationwide Tour -- while he retooled his game and tried to find a swing that worked as well as the swings of players who were on the big circuit. "I think that out here there was a definite learning curve on the PGA Tour of just being comfortable standing on the range, hitting balls next to Ernie Els or Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson and not just being in awe," Kuchar said. "And trying to say, Well, I cant hit it like that, what do I need to do to hit it like that? " He was a tennis player who took up golf when his mother upgraded their membership at a country club as a Christmas present. Playing better was never an issue since he quickly became one of the top -- and finally THE top -- amateur in the country. Coming back on tour in 2007 he played well enough to keep his card, though barely. The next year he won $1.5 million, and the next year cracked the top 25. Kuchar has already won twice this year, at the Match Play Championship and the Memorial, his sixth career win. Hes moved to No. 4 in the world golf rankings, and hasnt missed a cut all year while averaging 69.84 strokes a round. Hes a ball striker who rarely makes mistakes, and a putter who excels on fast greens, a combination that has oddsmakers and fans lining the fairways at Merion thinking he has a good shot to win his first major this week. "I think (the) great thing about the game of golf is theres no clear-cut favourites," Kuchar said. Vapormax Online . PETERSBURG, Fla. Clearance Air Vapormax . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. https://www.cheapvapormaxoutlet.com/ . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. Vapormax Sale .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. Discount Nike Vapormax . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Mike Rodgers were almost through parading the American flag around the track -- celebrating a bronze medal of all things -- when their names flashed on the big board, along with two letters: DQ.The smiles -- gone.Those medals -- might be gone, too.This nightmare -- it never ends for the U.S. men in sprint relays.Rodgers and Gatlin were ruled to have passed the baton before the start of the first passing zone in the mens 4x100 relay won Friday night by Usain Bolt and Jamaica. After the disqualification, the bronze went to Canada.Tyson Bromell ran the anchor leg and finished third behind Jamaica and surprising Japan. The American fell over the finish line and was nursing his injured foot while his teammates celebrated what they thought was a bronze medal, which would have been considered a debacle all of its own back in the day.At this point, theyd take it.The U.S. protested the call. A decision is expected later Saturday morning. If the disqualification holds up, it will mark the ninth time since 1995 that the U.S. men have somehow botched the relay at a world championship or Olympics.Its always something weird, stupid, simple mistakes that always cost us and I dont understand, said Gay, who cost the U.S. another medal, its silver from the London Olympics, because of a doping positive. We had great sticks in practice, great everything and something so simple -- I cant say anything but bad luck.Video replays show a clean handoff from Rodgers to Gatlin, but are less clear about whether Gatlin had taken possession of the stiick before Rodgers got it inside the start of the 20-meter passing zone.ddddddddddddRule 170.07 in the track and field handbook reads: The baton shall be passed within the takeover zone. The passing of the baton commences when it is first touched by the receiving athlete and is completed the moment it is in the hand of only the receiving athlete. In relation to the takeover zone, it is only the position of the baton which is decisive. Passing of the baton outside the takeover zone shall result in disqualification.Hours earlier, down on the track, the runners huddled around a TV monitor and nodded their heads when they saw the replay.It was the twilight zone. It was a nightmare, said Gatlin, who won silver in the 100 sprint, but didnt make the final of the 200 and could go home empty in the relay, as well. You work so hard with your teammates, guys you compete against almost all year long. All that hard work just crumbles.All those miscues for the country with arguably the deepest pool of sprinting talent, even with Bolt in the mix, has cost them medals and sent the team back to the drawing board time and again.Dennis Mitchell, who won the relay gold at the Barcelona Games but also has a doping past, is the current coach. Whatever he was teaching didnt quite hold up.And this time, the way the Americans received the news was especially cruel.Hell, we already did a victory lap, Gay said. Right before we were about to talk to TV, they told us. ' ' '