12 August 2024
Matt Kuchar finally finished the Wyndham Championship in front of a handful of people on Monday after strangely not completing the final hole on Sunday evening.
Kuchar was the only player in the field to return to Sedgefield Country Club on Monday after exercising his right not to finish the 72nd hole of the weather-affected tournament.
Needing a win to continue his run as the only player to reach the FedEx Cup play-offs every year since their inception in 2007, Kuchar was out of contention in a 10-way tie for 12th when he hooked his tee shot on the 18th into the trees.
Play was suspended when the other two players in the final group, Max Greyserman and Chad Ramey, had also teed off, giving all three the option to complete the hole as daylight quickly faded.
But while Ramey and Greyserman – who had surrendered a four-shot lead after 13 holes but could still catch England’s Aaron Rai with an eagle – opted to finish, Kuchar informed tournament officials he would mark his ball and return on Monday.
The 46-year-old American duly did so and resumed play at 8am local time, receiving line-of-sight relief from a scoreboard before hitting his second shot short of the green, then hitting the pin with his pitch and tapping in for par.
Speaking on Sunday evening, Kuchar had defended his decision to stop playing.
“I was trying to set an example for Max,” Kuchar told Golf Channel.
“We were so far past when we should’ve stopped playing. We saw what Max did on hole 16 (four-putting for a double bogey) – they should’ve blown the horn 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.”
A par on the 18th ensured Kuchar earned around £105,000 in prize money, while an unlikely birdie would have been worth an additional £70,000. A bogey would have reduced his payday to £60,000.
It was unclear how many greenskeepers and tournament staff had to work on Monday to allow Kuchar to finish, but they at least witnessed the bizarre scene.
“I don’t expect we’re going to be bringing you that coverage tomorrow,” CBS commentator Jim Nantz joked on Sunday evening.
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