At Fortinet, age is no problem for Kuchar

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.

For Theegala, strange question but great golf

NAPA — The question wasn’t what, say, Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy would’ve been asked. It also seemed to have Sahith Theegala, the third-year PGA Tour pro, as distressed as it did perplexed.

Here was Theegala Friday after moving into a share of the halfway lead in the season’s opening event, the Fortinet, and one reporter asks, “Why are you playing this week?”

Yes, you read that correctly. After a headshake, Theegala responded diplomatically.

“Yeah,” said Theegala, “I actually don’t think that’s a great question.”

Especially after a great round, an 8-under 64 at Silverado which put Theegala at 12-under for 36 holes and tied for the lead with S.H. Kim. 

Sheepishly, the reporter restructured his previous query and wondered: “Is it a decent question?”

Theegala, now accepting the repartee, said, “I’d put it in the lower tier.”

As opposed to the golfer who has been in the upper tier basically since his prep days in Southern California. An All-America at Pepperdine, Theegala has been competitive from the start as a pro and was a hot shot out of the playoffs in the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2022, his rookie season.

But he’s yet to finish first, and failed to qualify for the most recent Tour Championship, giving him unwanted time off and probably the reason he was unable to laugh away the question of why he was entered in the Fortinet. 

He was entered because as a golfer he wants to play golf. He definitely played it Friday with an eagle, seven birdies, and only one bogey. 

“It was a really good round,” was his understatement.

As reminded, Silverado isn’t a course for major championships. It was created with 18 holes by Johnny Dawson in the 1950s, then expanded and improved to two 18s by Robert Trent Jones II in the 1960s. Still, it’s where there’s enough water and out-of-bounds holes to cause trouble if a golfer is botching shots.

Set amongst vineyards in the Napa Valley, Silverado can be rewarding if a golfer keeps the ball online and off the tee and Theegala did exactly that on Friday.

“I was off to a good start,” he said. “Birdied all the par-fives. I started on the back nine. You kind of ease into the round versus starting on a couple of hard holes out of the gate.”

“I really like the course, it’s just good vibes. I think I’ve said a lot in the last couple of years. If I could get my tee shots in play and get my tee shots under control, I feel good about the rest of my game and I did that today.”

With two rounds remaining, and people such as Kim, Justin Thomas, and back-to-back Fortinet winner Max Homa very much in the picture, the only question to be asked now of Theegala is whether he can win.