PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - With a few more strokes to complete before the biggest win of a PGA Tour career that probably hadn’t lived up to its potential, Matt Kuchar wanted his mind to be on anything but the task at hand between shots, because those were going to be laced with enough pressure already.

So Kuchar and caddie Lance Bennett talked team sports, not golf, as they walked up the 18th fairway Sunday at the Players Championship. Baseball, the Stanley Cup playoffs, even the Celtics’ series-opening victory over Philadelphia Saturday night was discussed. Anything to distract Kuchar from thinking too much about the work left to do, at least until it was time for him to clock in.

Once clocked in, he was locked in.

A Sunday that started with a family tennis match ended with a family celebration on the 18th green of the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. Kuchar won by two shots over a quartet of dogged pursuers, shooting a final-round 70 to finish at 13-under-par 275. Martin Laird (67), Zach Johnson (68), Ben Curtis (68), and Rickie Fowler (70) shared second. Kuchar’s fourth career tour victory is certainly the sweetest, both in prize money ($1.7 million) and prestige.

That it came on Mother’s Day, in front of his family - his parents live near TPC Sawgrass, and Kuchar grew up in Ponte Vedra Beach - made it a day he’ll never forget. Because of the roster of champions he’s joining, he couldn’t, even if he tried.

“You think of this as one of the strongest fields in golf,’’ Kuchar said. “To come out as the champion is just an amazing feeling.

“One of the things that strikes me is walking every day through the champions’ tunnel. Every player does it. And for me, I can’t help but stop and gaze at all the photos, and to think I’m going to be a part of that with Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino and Raymond Floyd and Phil Mickelson and David Duval and Tiger Woods, it’s all the best of the best.