At Fortinet, age is no problem for Kuchar

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NAPA — No, as we’re told when unexpectedly some veteran pro shows up on a tournament leaderboard, the golf ball doesn’t know how old you are.

But we know how old Matt Kuchar is, 45, figuratively ancient in sport. On the other hand, the second-round leader of the Fortinet Championship, Sahith Theegala, is 27.

Theegala was born in 1997, the year Kuchar won the U.S. Amateur.

Now it’s 2023, and with only one scheduled round remaining in the Fortinet Championship, the first event of the season, Theegala, following a 5-under par 67, on Saturday, is in front at 17-under.

Cam Davis who is 28 (and won the 2022 British Open), Justin Thomas who is 30 (and won two PGA Championships), and S.H. Kim who is 25, are all tied for second two behind.

Next, another stroke back, is Kuchar, reveling in the moment. “I love playing,” said Kuchar. “I love having a chance to compete. Being out here at Silverado, a fantastic resort, a fantastic golf course; this is one that regardless of where it is on the schedule, I’m likely to find myself here.”

And so he is and we have found him here. Older golfers don’t retire. They just keep replacing their divots. No linebacker is going to knock them down. If they can stand up to what is on the scorecard, they seem very content.

Obviously, Kuchar is. He missed winning a major a couple of times, finishing in a tie for third in the 2012 Masters. He also made a great run in the 2017 British Open, stumbling when he got into a dispute about whether playing partner Jordan Spieth got a surprisingly favorable ruling after a tee shot into the rough.

Kuchar is perhaps best recalled as the man whose compensation for his caddie after Matt winning the 2018 Mayakoba Classic, was a cause for controversy.

The relatively low amount Kuchar paid, although agreed upon before the tournament, was so mocked on social media that Kuchar finally had to up the payment.

Kuchar has overcome what he said was a misunderstanding. Whether he can overcome a deficit of several strokes in the Fortinet is now the issue.

Theegala, starting his third year on tour after winning college honors at Pepperdine, is seeking his first win on Tour.

He began and closed Saturday with a lead, which is not unimpressive with people such as Davis and Thomas, major champions, chasing him.

“The big key for me is just try to keep it in the fairway, which I haven’t done a great job the last three days and I feel like I’m just scrambling my butt off a little bit, which feels like a good thing because I feel like if I’m in the fairway, it almost feels like a bonus.”

“My main thing that I’m kind of focusing on was just making progress and I felt like I made progress again throughout the year,” Theegala said. “Yeah, I think I learned just as much from not being in contention as being in contention.”

He is very much in contention at the Fortinet, as is Matt Kuchar.

Kuchar cringes — and then gets himself out of trouble

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By Art Spander
For Maven Sports

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — The thinking in golf is to get out trouble before you take a chance on getting into more trouble. With a printed statement and a proper payment, Matt Kuchar was able to extricate himself from some self-created difficulties.

Read the full story.

Copyright 2019, The Maven 

Golf’s strange days: Kuchar’s caddy fee, Sergio’s apology and more rain

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By Art Spander
For Maven Sports

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — And haven’t these been a few strange days of golf?

The revelation of Matt Kuchar’s perhaps low payment to a caddy after winning a tournament. The apology by Sergio Garcia for wreaking havoc on a course during a tournament in Saudi Arabia. The unprecedented hail that fell Sunday during the AT&T at Pebble Beach.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2019, The Maven 

No fun for most on a tough day at the Masters

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By Art Spander

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tony Lema, a San Leandro kid whose brief life provided both success in and insight into golf, told us that the difference between the Masters and the U.S. Open is the difference between fun and fear.

Yes, the Open, with its narrow fairways and heavy rough, can be punishing. But the men who flailed around Augusta National on Friday in the second round of the 2018 Masters may have a definition of fun that is not quite the same as Lema’s.

Phil Mickelson, believing he had resurrected his game and his chances, had a triple bogey at nine, a double bogey at 12 and shot 79, seven over par. “Yeah,” said Mickelson, “it was a rough day.“

Tiger Woods had a double bogey and shot 75, three over. “I hit my irons awful today,” said Woods, who at least made the cut — as did Mickelson. “So many beautiful putts, but nothing went in today. Didn’t control distances, shapes or anything.”

Jordan Spieth, the overnight leader, started double bogey, bogey and then managed to shoot 74. “I just had two really bad tee shots the first two holes,” said Spieth, “and then the course was very difficult today.”

Not for Patrick Reed. He shot a 66 and is at 135, two shots in the lead. Or Marc Leishman, a 67 for 137. But for almost everyone else, Augusta, with a slight breeze and challenging pin positions, was a struggle.

Which, of course, is proper for a major championship. Otherwise it’s not a major. But there was that idea, endorsed by Lema, that with its wide fairways, the Masters was enjoyable. It has been for Reed. It hasn’t been for Matt Kuchar, who shot a 75 Friday and explained, “It was a very, very hard day.”

Mickelson and Woods have won multiple Masters. Spieth has a single victory. But all the course knowledge and fine play doesn’t mean much when a shot smacks a tree, as did Mickelson’s on nine, or flies into the bushes, as did Tiger’s on five.

Matt Kuchar, with a 38 on the back nine (forgive me, Masters Gods, for not calling it the “second nine”), was visibly frustrated after a three-putt at 18 and a 75 for 143. “It was a very hard day,” he agreed. “I thought I hit a bunch of real good shots and walked away with a bogey, which is part of how it works here.”

How it works here, there and everywhere, is if you hit a perfect tee shot, a perfect approach and then a perfect putt, you probably make birdie. Probably, because as every golfer, pro to hacker, knows full well, an erratic bounce or a gust of wind may spoil all the apparent perfection.

And while it’s hard to accept when you’re the one in the vise, it’s sometimes refreshing when you’re just watching. “It’s one of those days,” said Kuchar, who finished early on, “where I’m kind of anxious to kick my feet up in the house and watch the guys deal with it the rest of the afternoon.”

Please, Matt, didn’t you ever read that advice in the spectator guide from Bobby Jones, the Augusta founder, that we’re not supposed to cheer the mistakes and misfortunes of the competitor?

“It was tough from the get-go,” said Kuchar. “It was never comfortable. I think this place keeps you on edge because of the fact on almost every hole, the line between birdie and bogey is so fine.”

“You either have to be sharp,” he said, “or you really have to be clean. I felt I was doing a whole lot of scrambling, and for the most part I was getting away with scrambling pretty well.”

Mickelson didn’t get away with it.

“There’s a disappointment between wanting it so bad and then also letting it kind of happen,” said the 47-year-old Mickelson. “As you get older, you feel a little bit more pressure with each one. I thought this was a great year, a great opportunity.”

It was, but on a tough day, he couldn’t do much with that opportunity.

Newsday (N.Y.): Matt Kuchar dealt crushing blow after leading British Open with five to play

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SOUTHPORT, England — Matt Kuchar called it crushing, having a chance at age 39 to win his first major, coming from behind to take the lead and then having it all snatched away by a remarkable performance from his playing partner — and friend — Jordan Spieth.

Kuchar moved a shot in front at the 13th hole of the final round of the 146th British Open yesterday when Spieth took about a half hour to declare an unplayable lie, take a drop on the driving range and scramble for an amazing one-putt bogey.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2017 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Global Golf Post: Match Play Is Unmatched

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By Art Spander
For Global Golf Post

MARANA, ARIZONA — It's evil, match play is, and wonderful, sport at its essence, where reputations mean nothing and seedings even less, where you're playing the course — as always — and your opponent. And no less significantly, yourself.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2013 Global Golf Post

Newsday (N.Y.): Matt Kuchar wins Match Play Championship

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

MARANA, Ariz. -- He was the prospect who became suspect, a golfer who lost his swing and his confidence. Now a decade after the fall, Matt Kuchar is back at the top.

Kuchar won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship Sunday, defeating Hunter Mahan, 2 and 1, in a final played in winds and chill so severe at Dove Mountain Club above Tucson that both players wore ski caps and occasionally used heavy mittens to keep their hands warm.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2013 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): Kuchar back in spotlight after long climb back

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By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. -- He was the kid with the big smile and great future. Matt Kuchar won the 1997 U.S. Amateur, made the cut in the Masters -- when he was paired with a defending champion named Tiger Woods -- and looked like the next American star in the golfing galaxy.

Then, as Kuchar said ruefully, golf happened.

"I went through some stretches of not having it," said Kuchar, now either a young 32 or an old 32 depending on his mood. "But I have kind of dug way out.''

He's certainly had it in this bizarre 92nd PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, some 60 miles north of Milwaukee, a tournament that depending on climatic conditions could last until the 12th of Never.

Kuchar was one of the 78 golfers who didn't finish Thursday's first round until Friday -- a different 78 won't finish Friday's second round until Saturday -- because of a second straight fog delay. He came out Friday morning, birdied the first hole he played to take the lead and he never let it go.

Beginning at the sixth hole, his 15th, Kuchar played the final four holes of his first round in 1 under par for a 5-under 67. In the afternoon he shot a 69 for a 36-hole, 8-under 136 total, a shot ahead of Nick Watney.

Tied for third at 5-under 139 are seven golfers: Jason Dufner, who had a tournament low 6-under 66 after a 73; Rory McIlroy, the Northern Irishman who shot a 63 in the British Open a month ago; Dustin Johnson, who led the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach after three rounds; 2007 Masters winner Zach Johnson; Bryce Molder, a teammate of Kucher's at Georgia Tech; Simon Kahn of England, who bogeyed the final three holes and Seung Yui Noh of Korea.

Bubba Watson and Francesco Molinari, first-round co-leaders at 68, as well as Tiger Woods, began their second rounds late Friday as wind grew and darkness loomed. Watson began at 6:15 p.m. EST and was 1-over through eight holes, while Molinari started at 6:57 and was even through five.

Woods, who was 1-under for the first round, completed six holes of his second round at even par before the horn sounded to halt play at 7:27 p.m., earlier than Thursday because of a mist off Lake Michigan.

"It was tough out there,'' said Woods, who scrambled for pars on two, three and five. "Had to hang in there and did a good job with that.''

So did Kuchar, who at Georgia Tech played very well until his junior year, then rebounded as a senior.

"I turned pro,'' he said, "earned my card and a sponsor exemption straightaway my first year and in seven events earned enough to keep myself on Tour through 2002. Then I had a win in 2002 and another dip down. Since 2005 it's been a steady climb up.''

This year he has six top 10s, including a sixth in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

"I think there's a maturing process. I thought out of school, Bryce [Molder] was the best hands-down player in college golf. I thought he's going straight to the big leagues.''

Instead, he went straight to the Nationwide Tour, unable to make the PGA Tour until the end of 2006.

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/golf/kuchar-back-in-spotlight-after-long-climb-back-1.2208229
Copyright © 2010 Newsday. All rights reserved.