I originally planned to publish this Sunday night, but then I decided to set an example and finish the final few thoughts Monday morning.
Matt Kuchar became golf’s main character Sunday. No, not Aaron Rai after his first PGA Tour win at the Wyndham Championship. Not Max Greyserman, the 29-year-old rookie who gave up a four-shot lead with five holes to go with a quadruple bogey on 14 and a four-putt on 16. The most talked about man at the regular-season finale was the 46-year-old Kuchar, who finished in 12th place.
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Why? Well, we were all trying to figure that out Sunday night as well.
With darkness arriving for the final group after the Wyndham (miraculously) got in parts of three different rounds in one day and make it possible to finish on time, Kuchar picked up his ball from the fairway rough and called it a day. With half a hole remaining, outside of the top 10, and already eliminated from the FedEx Cup playoffs, Kuchar decided to finish play Monday morning.
He was the only golfer to do so.
“Sorry that you guys had to come out this morning,” Kuchar said Monday as he went to speak to the media members in Greensboro, N.C., who chose to also return to the course out of what one might assume was fascination more than anything else.
OK, let’s start by saying this whole situation is more funny and strange than it is actually problematic. But for reasons we’ll get into, it’s a rough look, and Kuchar expressed his apologies to the tournament organizers and everybody who had to return. He said he’s well aware that “nobody wants to be that guy, which I feel I turned into.”
Matt Kuchar returned to @WyndhamChamp Monday morning to complete his round and explain his reasoning for waiting to finish. pic.twitter.com/qVx4ZthZHc
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 12, 2024
But let’s get into the nonsense.
Kuchar was in the final group playing with Greyserman, who to their knowledge entered the 18th hole one shot back of Rai. As far as they knew, the 72nd hole was for a chance at a playoff. Kuchar claims he did what he did with Greyserman in mind. Speaking to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis on Sunday night, Kuchar said: “I was trying to set an example for Max. We were so far past when we should’ve stopped playing. We saw what Max did on hole 16. 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.”
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Here’s what’s so strange: Initially, Kuchar was the one rushing to hit his tee shot on 18. With Rai’s group still in the fairway, Kuchar hit into them and fortunately missed left into the rough. Greyserman and Chad Ramey still waited to hit their tee shots. By the time they did, Rai was taking a two-shot lead with a birdie. Greyserman finished out for par and a solo second-place finish.
“I think had I been in the fairway with a normal shot, I probably would have attempted to finish,” Kuchar said Monday morning, “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, I don’t know.”
In the end, Kuchar returned, saved par (after getting temporary immovable object relief from a scoreboard) and finished the tournament tied for 12th. The Wyndham is the final event of the regular season, meaning Kuchar finished the season ranked 103rd in the FedEx Cup standings and will miss the playoffs starting this week in Memphis. It ends a quietly historic run, as Kuchar was the lone golfer to qualify for every single FedEx Cup Playoffs since it launched in 2007.
“So apologies to the tournament, to everybody that had to come out,” Kuchar said. “I know it stinks, I know the ramifications, I know it stinks. Certainly I apologize to force everybody to come out here.”
But he accidentally covered for Greyserman
One of the more painful elements of televised professional golf is that sometimes you only get to know a player through their worst moments. Yeah, close-watching golf fans know Greyserman is a 29-year-old rookie who finished T21 at the U.S. Open in his first professional major. He’s a good player with seven straight top-40 finishes and consecutive runner-ups.
Most fans don’t know him yet. That’s OK. Sunday was supposed to be his moment — he was in the spotlight on CBS, holing out for eagle on 13 to take a four-shot lead with five holes to go.
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Greyserman’s drive on 14 went way right and bounced off the cart path to go flying out of play. From there, he drove to the rough, hit to a bunker from there and eventually took a quadruple-bogey 8 to drop back even with Rai. Credit to Greyserman, he bounced back with a birdie! All was well!
Wrong. On 16, Greyserman put his birdie putt three feet, four inches from the hole. Should have been a solid par. Instead, Greyserman missed the par putt as it wrapped around the hole and rolled another three feet away. He then missed that three-footer too for double bogey.
This is the pain. Much like Ben Kohles at the Byron Nelson this summer, the casual golf fan might only remember Greyserman for this moment, but all indications are he’s not going anywhere. He made the top 70 for the playoffs and looks like he’s slated for a nice career. The hope is he gets more chances to add a different memory to people’s minds.
For now, though, enjoy Greyserman handling it like a professional.
"Just gonna take away that I hung in there, and I played good golf."
Max Greyserman discusses his final round @WyndhamChamp. pic.twitter.com/Dpe7VW5qIT
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 12, 2024
A worthy winner in Rai
If you’ve been paying attention, Aaron Rai has been one of the 30 best golfers in the world lately. The 29-year-old Englishman is flat out good. He’s always been a very nice player, the kind of streaky, two-gloved ball striker who could shoot a 63 on any random day but also fade out to finish top 20.
This year, though? He’s taken a leap. Starting with a T4 at the Byron Nelson followed by a top-40 finish at the PGA Championship, he’s gone on a run of: T14, T19, T2, T7, T4 before a disappointing Open Championship. And that T19 was at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, showing that many of his good weeks are at completely different courses.
Now, Rai adds a PGA Tour win, his seventh around the world including most notably the 2020 Scottish Open. He’s now 25th in the FedEx Cup standings, meaning he’s in solid position to make the top 30 and the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
(Top photo of Matt Kuchar: Isaiah Vazquez / Getty Images)
Brody Miller covers golf and the LSU Tigers for The Athletic. He came to The Athletic from the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A South Jersey native, Miller graduated from Indiana University before going on to stops at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Indianapolis Star, the Clarion Ledger and NOLA.com. Follow Brody on Twitter @BrodyAMiller
