Matt Kuchar finishes Wyndham Championship a day late in odd decision meant to help a rookie
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Aaron Rai won the Wyndham Championship in near darkness Sunday evening, a rain-delayed tournament that wasn't officially in the books until Matt Kuchar finished on Monday morning.
It was a peculiar ending, and Kuchar apologized to the tournament officials after he finished the 18th hole with a scrambling par to tie for 12th, seven shots out of the lead.
But he explained what went into his decision to stop playing Sunday night, wanting to set a precedent for rookie Max Greyserman if he also wanted to wait until Monday morning with so much riding on the outcome.
One problem — Kuchar didn't know Rai had made birdie in the group ahead of him to take a two-shot lead, making it improbable for Greyserman to catch him.
“I'm figuring now way Max is going to finish out with a chance to win a tournament,” Kuchar said. “I thought Max, for sure, had a shot to win and I thought, ‘No way in this situation do you hit this shot. You come back in the morning 100% of the time. And so I said, ’Well, Max will stop and kind of make it easy on him.'”
Tropical Storm Debby washed out the first round, and it was surprising it even finished by Sunday. They played until dark each day and didn't change tee times over the final 36 holes to keep players moving.
Kuchar was in the last group as the 36-hole leader. He thinks the darkness played a role in Greyserman four-putting the 16th green in a wild finish for the rookie. Greyserman holed out for eagle on the 13th to take a four-shot lead, lost it with a quadruple bogey on the next hole, made birdie on the 15th, and then four-putted from 40 feet for double bogey on the 16th.
Kuchar teed off on the 18th while the group ahead was still in the fairway, an indication he was determined to finish. He said he saw a pink shirt on the 18th green and assumed it was Billy Horschel, who was in Rai's group. Kuchar went so far left he was over by the 10th hole.
He felt it already was too dark for normal play.
“Had I had been in the fairway with the normal shot, I probably would have attempted to finish," Kuchar said. “But I had just seen Max four-putt the 16th hole. If there was daylight on that green, does he four-putt? I don't know.”
Kuchar said while he felt bad for anyone who had to return Monday morning to close out the tournaments, he at least was happy that Rai was able to have a trophy ceremony that celebrated his first PGA Tour title.
Kuchar, meanwhile, got back into position and saved par from short of the green. His tie for 12th meant he will miss the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time since they began in 2007. But he moved up 10 spots to No. 103 and now has the fall to secure a full card for next year.
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