Matt Kuchar was in a hurry.
And then he wasn’t.
While Aaron Rai will leave Sedgefield Country Club with the trophy after a marathon Sunday at the Wyndham Championship, Kuchar will be the only player in the field sticking around another day. With daylight fading fast, Kuchar, in the final threesome but out of contention in a 10-way tied for 12th, chose not to play his second shot on his 72nd hole.
As television cameras showed Rai signing his scorecard to put the finishing touch on his maiden PGA Tour victory, they quickly cut to Kuchar marking his ball in the left rough, 212 yards from the hole. That’s when CBS on-course reporter Dottie Pepper relayed a message from PGA Tour rules official Ken Tackett.
“Matt Kuchar has said he won’t play any more golf today,” Pepper said.
CBS analyst Trevor Immelman then questioned the decision, as a horn had not been blown for darkness. However, another rules official, Orlando Pope, informed the broadcast team that it was past sunset and rather than blowing a horn, it instead opted to just tell Kuchar and the other two players in the final group, Max Greyserman and Chad Ramey.
“Horn’s been theoretically blown?” Kuchar could be heard asking an official during one clip shown on the coverage.
Greyserman and Ramey finished the hole, but Kuchar will now have to return Monday morning to complete his tournament.
If the decision seemed bizarre, that’s because after birdieing the 17th hole, Kuchar hurried to the 18th tee box and quickly hit his drive. Luckily, Kuchar’s tee ball sailed well left of the fairway because Rai was still in the middle of it preparing to hit his second shot.
Also, Kuchar began the week at No. 113 in the FedExCup standings and was projected to move only to No. 103 if he parred the final hole. In other words, he already had been eliminated from the 70-man playoffs, which begin next week.
But in line for $134,695 should he make that closing par, Kuchar would collect $223,833 with a closing birdie. Conversely, a bogey would reduce his payday to $77,025.
Kuchar explained his decision to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis afterward, saying that he was trying to help Greyserman in hopes that Greyserman would follow his lead in stopping, and that he told Tackett he was done playing for the evening prior to Rai birdieing the last hole in front of them to pull two shots clear of Greyserman.
“I was trying to set an example for Max,” Kuchar told Lewis. “We were so far past when we should’ve stopped playing. We saw what Max did on hole 16; they should’ve blown the hole there. I feel bad, the poor kid should’ve won this tournament. By me not playing, it may show Max he has an important shot to hit.”
Upon hearing Kuchar’s comments, Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee was “still perplexed.”
“Why did he tee off on 18?” Chamblee said. “Because if he had hit a good drive, it would’ve got down there and possibly disrupt the flow of Aaron Rai and the group in front of them. … He could’ve stopped long before this if he wanted to stop.”
Added Golf Channel’s Paige Mackenzie: “Max can make his own decision. ... To say I wanted to influence this other player in his decision making, that is a bizarre statement.”
Regardless, Kuchar still has golf to play – and it’s likely few will be there Monday morning to see it.
Said CBS announcer Jim Nantz: “I don’t expect we’re going to be bringing you that coverage tomorrow.”
