Memorial Tournament 2013: Win Is Sign of Things to Come for Matt Kuchar

It's time we put Matt Kuchar in the conversation for best golfer in the world.

The 34-year-old may not be on the level of Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy, but as the world's two top-ranked golfers were crashing to 65th- and 57th-place finishes at Muirfield Village this weekend, it was "Kooch" who was cruising to a two-stroke victory at the Memorial. 

Kuchar is absolutely unconscious right now, as ESPN's Justin Ray pointed out on Friday:

All Kuchar did on the weekend was post two more rounds (extending his streak to nine) and six more strokes (putting him at -26 in that span) under par. 

The win is not only his second straight top-two finish after narrowly falling to Boo Weekley at the Crown Plaza Invitational last wee but also his second win of the season, something only Woods has accomplished. 

Now, I'm not exactly ready to jump ship on the bandwagon Tiger has worked so hard to get running again. One bad tournament shouldn't quell his four season wins and five straight top-five finishes. 

But as we currently reside, I'm not afraid to call Kuchar the second-best player in the world. 

His consistency is unrivaled. 

Since he reconstructed his swing in 2009, the burgeoning superstar has been a consummate force at nearly each and every major. Take a look at his finishes:

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013
The Masters	T24	T27	T3	T8
U.S. Open	T6	T14	T27
The Open Championship	T27	CUT	T9
PGA Championship	T10	T19	CUT

In his last 13 majors, Kuchar has five top-10 finishes and 11 top-30 finishes. That's amazingly efficient. 

Additionally, he leads the PGA Tour in top 10s since the start of 2010 and has now won both the Players and the Memorial, two of the bigger non-majors. 

Kuchar may not be the flashiest or most recognizable player on tour. Heck, even as he was transcending above the field this week in Ohio, they couldn't spell his name right: 

But it doesn't matter. He is one of the best, and a major victory is undoubtedly in his very near future—perhaps as near as the U.S. Open at Merion in a couple of weeks.