Masters 2012 Leaderboard: Padraig Harrington and Players Who Must Ride Momentum

Bubba Watson's big win at the 2012 Masters wasn't the only pleasant surprise at Augusta National Golf Course this weekend.

For a short period of time, Fred Couples was actually atop the leaderboard, Martin Kaymer finally made the cut after failing to do so in his first four tries and Padraig Harrington, a three-time major winner, resurfaced at Augusta after failing to make the cut in the previous two years.

Paddy's tied-for-eighth finish was his best since a top 10 finish at the 2009 PGA Championship. The 42-year-old Irishman has missed six cuts in his last 13 major attempts, but he was on the brink of contending for much of the week at Augusta.

It was great to see Paddy back out there ripping it the way he does, but now he has some work to do to stay on top of his game. He's struggled with consistency for much of his career, but does like to have success in bunches.

The U.S. Open will be here soon enough, and if Harrington wants to make something of this golf season, he'll need to stay on top of his game and perform well in the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco in June.

Sergio Garcia

Ironically enough, the one guy who knows about Paddy's success better than anyone is Sergio. The 32-year-old Spaniard lost out to Harrington at the 2007 Open Championship in a playoff and was runner-up to Harrington again at the PGA Championship in 2008.

Garcia has actually put together a solid string of performances in the last few majors, finishing tied for seventh, tied for ninth, tied for 12th and tied for 12th in the past four.

It is well-documented that he's yet to win a major, and the only chance he has at the U.S. Open in June is to ride the momentum he's built here at Augusta.

Matt Kuchar

A third-place finish at Augusta didn't seem likely for Kuchar entering the week, but the 33-year-old American stayed rather consistent and tied with Lee Westwood, Pete Hanson and Phil Mickelson.

Now there are only but a couple of months before he takes to the course in San Francisco, and the best chance he has at winning is staying hot.

A tie for sixth at the U.S. Open in 2010 was his best finish before this weekend, so it will be extremely interesting to see how he handles things.