As courageous stands go, Matt Kuchar’s is an odd one. In case you’re not aware, there was a PGA Tour event going on this week, and it was a huge event for some of the ‘bubble boys’ who hovered precariously around the cut-off mark for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
It was a case of ‘job done’ for our own Seamus Power who needed to maintain his place in the top 70 of the FedEx Rankings to take his place in this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship and keep his hopes alive of vaulting himself into the top 50 afterwards, which would see him take his place in 2025’s big-money ‘Signature Events’.
Shane Lowry jetted in from Paris looking to protect his own FedEx Ranking that, thanks to being ranked 10th coming into the week, would see him pick up a bonus cheque of $1 million should he hold off the few challengers with outside chances of overtaking him. He needn’t have bothered, as he held on regardless, but did so at the expense of his PGA Tour ‘made-cut’ streak that was third only to Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler.
Matt Kuchar, however, will miss out for the first time in 19 years, as the man who took the 54-hole lead and played in the final group in round four needed a victory to jump high enough to play his way in.
After Tropical Storm Debbie dumped eight inches of rain on Thursday, tournament staff, volunteers and greenkeepers put in trojan shifts to ensure that 72 holes of golf could be completed over three days – less than three, in fact, as further delays occurred on Saturday morning – and they pulled it off. Well, almost pulled it off, as 65 of the 66 players who teed it up in the final round got home.
The one that didn’t? Good ol’ Matt Kuchar. Having long since exited stage left as far as the tournament win was concerned, you’d have thought that getting into the clubhouse, getting your scorecard signed, and getting the hell out of Dodge – or Greensboro, North Carolina in this case – would’ve been high on Kuchar’s agenda, but instead, he opted to return on Monday morning to hit his second shot from the trees on the 18th hole.
Max Greyserman and Chad Raymey both finished out, but Kuchar, who has earned $59.8 million in his PGA Tour career, didn’t. Saving par and remaining in a tie for 12th will result in a $58,000 higher payout than making bogey and finishing T21. Is it simply a case of money?
An alternative suggestion is that Kuchar, who hit his tee shot on the 18th while tournament leader Aaron Rai was sizing up his second shot to the final hole, and ended up ricocheting in the trees just behind, was unimpressed with not being told that the course wasn’t clear so his refusal to finish out was a protest at that. If so, it’s one of the least heroic and most idiotic stands I’ve ever seen taken.
The most bizarre 18th hole of Matt Kuchar’s career? 😵 pic.twitter.com/S19gmkQRgd
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) August 12, 2024
There won’t be many, but certain PGA Tour staff will have to wait around and perform the necessary duties of observing him closing out, doing scoring procedures, and whatnot.
After the public bashing his reputation took after opting to pay his temporary caddie $5,000 after winning $1.3 million, he didn’t need to provide additional reasons for resentment, but he’s done it anyway.
So whether it’s about getting that extra $58k, or showing those damn volunteers who are working late into the night that he’s not a man to be messed with, he’s loaded up both barrels and directed them straight at his own foot.
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