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HONOLULU – Nearly four years removed from storming home to win a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games, Matt Kuchar still carries the spoils around everywhere he goes. In a sock. Kuchar, who defends his Sony Open in Hawaii title this week, revealed the bronze medal he won on the back of a final round 63 in Rio is with him, in his backpack, wherever he travels. To stop scratches he keeps it in an old sock. RELATED: Why Todd might be the prohibitive favorite at Waialae | TOUR players rally to Australian bushfire relief cause | Power Rankings But it comes out of its cocoon often, particularly through the many airport security screenings the nine-time PGA TOUR winner frequents. “It hadn’t found a home anywhere other than my backpack. It’s easy to travel with … and just been fun to show off,â€� Kuchar said. “In airport screenings I always take it out. They see this big metal blob and always take it out so I always bring it out and it’s in a sock and even though I’ve put the sock out open in a bin, the screener always grabs a hold of it, pulls it out, and (their) eyes kind of bug out. “It’s a similar reaction over and over again. Just kind of bug out. Is this real? What’s it for? They start showing it off to their friends. (And I’m like) Hey, I got to catch a flight now,â€� he laughed. With 2020 being an Olympic year Kuchar would love to return and represent the USA once more. But each nation gets just two slots for the golf competition, with the exception of players inside the top 15 in the world. A country can have up to four if all of those players are inside the top 15. The U.S. is the only nation who currently has four players inside the top 15. Kuchar is currently 24th in the world with 12 other Americans ahead of him on the list. The qualification period for Japan ends on June 22. If things ended now the U.S. representatives would be Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Cantlay. Next up ahead of Kuchar would be Tiger Woods, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Gary Woodland, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau and Rickie Fowler. But the difficulty won’t stop Kuchar chasing a place in the team. “I’m hugely proud to have been part of an Olympics, to be able to call myself an Olympian,â€� Kuchar said. “And I’m hugely proud to be a medalist at an Olympics. It’s definitely a goal of mine to be part of the Olympics in 2020 in Japan. I’m still amazed at the scale, the scope of just what the Olympics means to people, how big the Olympics is. “It’s a tough one to be a part of Team USA. You think of the chance of qualifying. It’s a hard team to be a part of. (But) It’s a big goal of mine. I would be disappointed if I didn’t make it, but I understand how challenging it is at the same time.â€� In 2016, Kuchar started the final round four shots out of third place in Rio. While he was unable to reel in eventual gold medalist Justin Rose or silver medal winner Henrik Stenson, Kuchar still felt like a winner given his achievement. “That was an incredible run. It felt Olympian. Looking back it ranks hugely high just to be able to finish so strong,â€� he added. “To be able to go ahead and know exactly the situation and come through and have a great round was amazing. To think there is that big cut off between third and fourth. It’s either you medal or you don’t. Medaling is winning in essence, and that was certainly one of my great final rounds.â€� Kuchar also spoke glowingly of the experience away from competition. While he didn’t stay in the athletes village due to the fact he brought his wife with him, they did get to other events as spectators. And did he connect with any other athletes? “I did become friends with Jack Sock actually. He’s the tennis player. We saw their bronze medal match. He played with Steve Johnson, and Daniel Berger’s dad was the coach,â€� Kuchar said. “We sat in the players box with Jay Berger and they won bronze. They came over just in huge celebratory fashion and Jack and I traded shirts. I got an Olympic tennis shirt for one of my Olympic golf shirts.â€� Jack. Sock. Naturally.

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HONOLULU, Hawaii – Just under a decade ago Charles Howell III came to a conclusion not always felt by elite athletes … winning isn’t everything. Having already won twice on the PGA TOUR, Howell III had been bitter about not closing the deal more often. It was bothering him like it would most players. But then he became a father and a sense of reality set in. Does winning define me? Does winning define the person I am or ultimately how successful one is? Of course winning is sensational. Of course we look at Tiger Woods’ 80 PGA TOUR wins in awe. But there’s something to be said for consistent performance also. And there is a lot to be said for being a kind and caring person and a doting dad and husband. Howell did not want golf to ever become miserable. He didn’t want his golf game to dictate his moods. The ruthless would say this attitude contributed to a win drought for Howell III that spanned nearly 12 years. But when he claimed The RSM Classic late last year for his third career win, first in 333 starts, no one begrudged his moment. “I realized you can still have a fantastic career and not win all the time. I don’t mean that as defeatist, because it’s not. It’s just the reality of it,â€� Howell III said of his epiphany. “I think having kids you realize you just can’t do that. It’s like, No, I’m going to go do the best I can do and that’s going to be what it is and I’m going to go home. Work on it in practice, but this is going to be it. “Honestly, that may not sound like the right thing to say, but it is the reality and makes this a lot easier.â€� It was an attitude that has helped Howell III earn over $37 million in on-course earnings in his PGA TOUR career – ranked 20th of all time. It wasn’t like he wasn’t trying to win … it just didn’t always fall his way. “The line between first and second is a big line,â€� Howell III added. “I think Tiger coming along made winning look a lot easier than it really is. “You always really push yourself along to try to get better and improve, and that’s a great thing to do but at the end of the day you have to stop and realize, okay, hang on, it’s really hard to win. “If I’m able to keep staying in the mix and having a nice career, eventually the win will happen.â€� If Howell III is right about the latter line perhaps he should be the red-hot favorite for this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. Since his first trip to Waialae Country Club in 2002 Howell has made 17 straight cuts in the event. The Augusta native has nine top-10s including two runner ups and two thirds. Clearly it is a course that suits his game and could see him lift his position in the FedExCup up from his already lofty fourth position. “I do love it here. Funny thing is I really can’t give a reason why I’ve had those finishes here, but I do like the golf course,â€� he explains.  “It’s quite a bit different than a lot we play. This is a nice change from the norm. It’s old-style.â€� These days a lot of the courses on TOUR seemingly suit those who hit the ball a long way. At an average 292 yards in driving distance so far this season Howell III is not classed as a bomber by any means. He has seen a shift from his early days on TOUR towards younger and more athletic players. But it drives him. “When I first started on TOUR the best players were the older players. Now I’ve gotten older it’s shifted the other way and the best players seem to be the younger players,â€� he said. “It makes me keep working hard. I know that. It makes me keep trying to find new and creative ways to get better, new ways to push myself along.â€� Howell III has never really been under threat of losing his TOUR card since he began what has now spanned 530 starts. His worst finish in the FedExCup was 97th in 2008. He’s cashed over one million dollars a season since his first full season in 2001. His latest win means he’s exempt through the 2020-21 season which will see him push towards an incredible 600 TOUR starts but he won’t take it for granted. “There isn’t a good player that has come out of college that doesn’t hit it 300 yards and doesn’t putt good,â€� he says. “So if that isn’t motivation enough to practice then I don’t know what is. They’ll take your job from you like that. If you look around, a lot of them keep doing that “If I want to still be sitting here in a few years I need to kick my butt in gear and keep working and practicing.â€�

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