Matt Kuchar bizarrely stops round on the 72nd hole and reverses Tour event’s end

Matt Kuchar bizarrely stopped his round at the 72nd hole at the Wyndham Championship, which halted the end to this PGA Tour event.

By Nick Piastowski

Aug 12, 2024 12:03 AM

Matt Kuchar and rules official Ken Tackett on Sunday.

CBS

Matt Kuchar isn’t done.

Every golfer is.

In a bizarre moment in the final round of the Tour’s Wyndham Championship Kuchar opted to halt his round following making his initial shot on the 18th hole, as darkness fell on Sunday at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. — despite the fact that his two players in the final group finishing and Kuchar being not competing for a win and a slot for the beginning in next week’s PGA Tour playoffs. The decision was legal, but it caused a delay in the end of the competition which was taken by Aaron Rai.

Kuchar was scheduled to play on Monday morning, and was hoping to earn the top spot and cash. He’s currently in a 10 way tie for the 12th hole, with a variety of scenarios on the table. If he holes-out for an eagle from a distance to the left of the 18th fairwaylikelyKuchar would then be able to jump into the sixth tie and would be paid $276,500 more than the $134,000 he’d receive for the tie for the 12th. If he makes a hit a birdie, Kuchar would be moved to a tie of six to seventh place, which will pay Kuchar $223,833. Likewise, the bogey could drop Kuchar into an eight-way tie for 21st and pay Kuchar the sum of $77,025. But nothing can make him eligible for the postseason of the Tour — the Wyndham is the final regular season tournament Kuchar isn’t able to accumulate enough points by Monday to qualify for the top 70 of the cut-off.

In Kuchar’s defense the explanation is that he wasn’t interviewed by reporters from the site. The journalist for Golf Jason Sobel tweeted Sunday evening the Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis talked with Kuchar and he told Lewis that he’d made the decision to pull out of the game before Rai took the victory with a birdie at the 18th hole the same group as him. He also said he wanted to assist his playing with partner Max Greyserman who, prior to the birdie, had trailed Rai by one stroke.

The whole thing was a puzzlement for reporters from CBS who were broadcasting the event.

“The tournament is over, but it’s not,” announcer Jim Nantz said. “It’s very strange. We’ll actually be a team on the field tomorrow morning I’m guessing at around 8 hours.”

Here is an unorganized rundown of events:

— In the last 3some Kuchar took off for the par-4 18th, 508 yards around 8:15 p.m. With Rai as well as his fellow players Cameron Young and Billy Horschel ahead, preparing for their next shots. Kuchar was said to have did not have a clear view of the players, however, his tee shot hit off the left side of the trees that line one side. It also went through the rough.

Said Kuchar: “God darn it.”

Kuchar’s teammates, Greyserman and Chad Rainey started their game just three minutes later the trio was informed by the rules officially Ken Tackett that they had the option of playing the game the following Monday or going back to the darkness. However, no horn to stop play was heard. On the CBS show, Tour rules official Orlando Pope disclosed the Tackett discussion, and then the network then shown footage of Tackett talking to Kuchar.

Kuchar told Tackett when he was walking down to the hole 18: “Horn’s been theoretically blown.”

Replied Tackett: “Correct.”

-Kuchar – Kuchar then made a mark on his ball, and then he walked through down the course with Greyserman as well as Rainey who continued to play.

Pope’s explanation was made as the two putted, and the absence of a horn firstand, understandably — caused confusion for the broadcasters. It was at least apparent that Kuchar ceased playing of his own.

Analyst Trevor Immelman: “So he will be able to identify it? Did someone blow an horn that I’m not aware of?”

On-course analyst Dottie Pepper who was walking alongside the trio: “No, there’s been no horn blown.”

He said to Immelman: “But is he allowed to stop if they haven’t blown a horn?”

He said to Nantz: “I have not heard a horn.”

— Greyserman and Rainey were then putting, while Kuchar stood in front of the green.

In the middle of the show, Pope disclosed the Tackett conversation with the players, declaring:

“Yeah It was almost sunset. We spoke about it while they were coming to the hole. Instead of sounding our horns, we offered them the option of finishing but he chose to not finish. He could even complete the hole. … However, He decided he didn’t want to complete the hole, so we’ll let it go. Come back tomorrow.”

And Kuchar seems to be on the verge of doing so.

CBS’s coverage came to an end in this moment:

Nantz: Nantz: “[Kuchar] said the horn had theoretically extinguished as well. Ken Tackett told him yes and he is the one to to decide. It’s only going to be to the station tomorrow, and I don’t believe there’s anybody in the room to watch the event. I don’t believe that we’ll be bringing you this coverage in the near future. However, that’s his right. It’s a fascinating decision — he’s probably not going to make it to the playoffs.”

“Said Immelman: “But let’s take the course back to five minutes ago when Immelman decided to tee off just as his leader had just begun to take his second shot, which was in center of fairway. It’s been an extremely strange sequence of happenings.”

He said Nantz: “Yeah, that’s an acceptable point. It seemed on the tee was in a rush to try to get it done. The two other players will finish.”

“Said Immelman: “Yeah, if you go ahead and hit your tee shot, you got to think your intention is to get done.”

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his job the editor is accountable for writing, editing and creating stories for the golf world. If he’s writing about how to get the ball further and straighter and straighter, the Milwaukee native might be playing golf by hitting the ball left, right and short or right and enjoying an ice cold drink to slurp off the score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at djgain2005@gmail.com.

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