![Matt Kuchar]()
The Internet mob is coming after Matt Kuchar for forcing tournament organizers at the Wyndham Championship to stick around through Sunday night and watch him play out the 18th hole on his own, because he didn't want to finish his final round in the darkness.
One of the more bizarre scenes ever:
https://twitter.com/NUCLRGOLF/status/1822801255917339048
When you consider that Kuchar had no shot to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs, having faded from the 36-hole lead to outside the top 10 of the PGA Tour's pre-postseason finale, it comes across as a d*ckish move. Not to mention, the man has little else to prove at age 46, with nine wins and career earnings somewhere around $60 million.
But that's just it. Kuchar is in the twilight of his career. His short distance off the tee and generally declining game have him over the barrel and waiting to hit 50 so he can hopefully feast on the Champions circuit (formerly known as the Senior Tour) for a while.
Kuchar's net worth is widely reported to be
$25 million. He isn't some endorsement magnet, simply because he's not really relevant in the modern game. Never had this electric personality. His most famous success from commercials came as the middle-aged dad face of Sketchers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jioT-tQyW5I
Knee-knocking charisma. You're swooning, right?
Not to say that matters. Kuchar couldn't care less as a highly successful golfer. He's embraced his aw-shucks persona and is married with two children. But again, you have to wonder what his upside is as a breadwinner going forward. The reality is that he and his family are set for life any way you slice it. However, to maintain or optimize whatever lavish lifestyle they're used to, it doesn't hurt for Kuchar to bring home a little extra dough while he still can.
Up until his previous start at the 3M Open — bear in mind, again, his net worth is about 42% of his career earnings — Kuchar had really struggled on the course all year. It's more than a little disconcerting when your golf game starts leaving you as a professional, or so I'd imagine. He'd made only seven of 18 cuts, with only two top-25 finishes. A tie for third at the 3M Open netted him $447,900. He'd earned only $580,656 total across those prior 18 tournaments.
Again, once about
four more years pass, Kuchar will be eligible for the Champions circuit. Only
the top 24 players on the season-long money list on that tour make over $500K. In other words, not super lucrative compared to the PGA Tour.
Cut to the final round of the Wyndham Championship. The whole event was marred by rain delays, to the point where they had a first hole-10th hole shotgun start yesterday to try to jam the tournament in. Of course it was going to flirt with being suspended due to darkness. Kuchar was in the final threesome, and didn't have his best day. His playing partners decided to finish on Sunday. He wanted to wait. And the vast majority of golf Twitter was straight-up dunking on him, with memes, insults and all the works.
https://twitter.com/JeffEisenband/status/1822796431327174667
https://twitter.com/Granjy2Chainz/status/1822792020185809154
https://twitter.com/ShaneRyanHere/status/1822792882543005835
https://twitter.com/ANTIFAldo/status/1822797422898098221
https://twitter.com/CPowers14/status/1822816304245391579
https://twitter.com/ANGC_burner/status/1822795424287056142
https://twitter.com/Top100Rick/status/1822970002904961393
https://twitter.com/NoLayingUp/status/1822969426158731275
So why
did Kuchar wait? He had to know this sort of reaction was coming.
I've set up all these financial implications, and acknowledged the reality that he couldn't qualify for the playoffs. Depending on the score he made at the 18th hole, though, there was a considerable difference in his paycheck. He ultimately parred and finished tied for 12th, earning $144,965. Had he managed to make a birdie, Kuchar would've vaulted into the top 10 and been over $100K richer. Those who tied for seventh, one stroke ahead of him, raked in $249,245 for the week.
A bogey would've meant Kuchar backslid outside the top 20, because he was tied with nine other golfers at 11 under par. Those who finished at -10 earned only $79,658. Kuchar had to get up-and-down for par after missing the green with his second shot on Monday. Had he failed to do so, he would've seen his pay basically slashed in half.
Matt Kuchar solo finishing the tournament looks like the ultimate d-bag move at first glance. He still gets paid quite handsomely to play a game and so forth. But like, short of selling out for a LIV Golf check, and until his last two starts of the 2024 season, things on the course were looking pretty bleak! I don't know. I might've taken the heat and taken the extra day, too, with that much cash on the line.
If you hated me rationalizing Kuchar's antics, well, allow me to redirect you to BBC Radio 1's "Unpopular Opinion" segment with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman of
Deadpool & Wolverine fame for some uplift and additional cold takes you might be able to get behind.
I bet the show's catchy tune gets stuck in your head if you make it that far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQkv3snsJ_0
