Matt Kuchar wasn’t happy Sunday night about playing his final holes at the Wyndham Championship in the dark. He spoke loud and clear and above all, he refused to end the tournament when he had only half a hole left to play, forcing volunteers, referees and organizers to return on Monday morning for him.
Always at the center of controversies in the past, Matt Kuchar did not make friends with North Carolina on Sunday night. And especially on Monday morning.
The one who was accused of stinginess during his victory in Mayakoba Classic in 2019 (he initially paid $5,000 to his local caddy after winning $1.3 million) so refused to end his tournament with only half a hole left to play.
This forced several staff to return the next morning to allow him to play the last half hole of his tournament. Meanwhile, the Floridian has little left because he is no longer in the running for victory and qualification for the FedEx Cup playoffs.
His playmates, Max Greyserman and Chad Rameyfinished on Sunday night, although the light is scarce, since the Wyndham Championship saw its program interrupted by bad weather.
The 46-year-old finally saved par on the 72nd hole on Monday morning, which allowed him to take 12th place. Not enough, as we already know, to avoid him missing the FedEc Cup playoffs for the first time in 17 years, but it brought him $144,965.
🚨Full video of Matt Kuchar finishing 18th and his post round comments from today. pic.twitter.com/fcufv6xV3S
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) August 12, 2024
I know the consequences of my decision, the consequences of the tournament, so I want to apologize.
This “star” whim was not without consequences for the tournament’s finances and the schedules of many volunteers. Kuchar, whose attitude seems to have been driven by anger and a desire to stigmatize the slowness of eventual winner Aaron Rai since he first hit his drive on the 72nd hole to finish on time, has been forgiven the next day.
“No one wants to be in my place, only one can’t finish the tournament, he estimated. But last night there was darkness. What I want is to avoid a double bogey (he drifted into the woods and found himself far away from the green). I hope that doesn’t cause too many problems. I know the consequences of my decision, the consequences. So I want to apologize.»
Apologies that will no doubt be hard to come by for the organizers have been strongly criticized by Kuchar, who believes that cracking down on Max Greyserman Offering the victory to Rai was the result of the lack of light, although the man himself did not complain about it.
A priori, the player does not risk any penalty. But his reputation, already tarnished by an old arbitration incident between him and Sergio Garcíadoes not improve.