Adverse weather forced the PGA Tour to cram parts of three rounds into Sunday in an effort to wrap up the regular season and head into the FedExCup Playoffs. An unusual day turned truly bizarre when leader Max Greyserman holed out an eagle then posted a quadruple bogey on successive holes and suffered through a four-putt double, allowing Aaron Rai to swoop in and capture his first Tour win of the year.
But that was merely a sideshow to the Matt Kuchar situation. Kuchar, who needed to win in order to extend his streak of making the playoffs every year since 2007, looked like he just might do that before surrendering the lead late in the third round. On the 72nd hole of the tournament he teed off when Rai was lining up what would prove to be the tournamet-sealing approach, then refused to hit another shot after it sailed wide.
Meaning he and he alone showed up to the course to get a favorable ruling, chip out to 34 yards away, clip the flag pole, and pop in a par-saving shortie.
51 years ago, Chi Chi Rodriguez won @WyndhamChamp in a Monday finish
— Kevin Prise (@PGATOURKevin) August 12, 2024
Perhaps in homage, Matt Kuchar will do the same
Kuchar on cart headed to range, final prep for 8 am restart .. playing 72nd hole, current T12 pic.twitter.com/7RpPv7RGdb
Kuchar finishes up with a par and a T12 @WyndhamChamp
— Kevin Prise (@PGATOURKevin) August 12, 2024
Handshakes of appreciation .. moves up 10 spots to No. 103 on FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List, huge for his top-125 status
Smattering of patrons appreciate as well pic.twitter.com/c3oZyWkXwh
Getting up and down preserved Kuchar a 12th-place finish and a bigger payout (here's the final prize money). One can argue with the process, but not the results.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Matt Kuchar Has Finally Completed the Wyndham Championship.
