CBS broadcast duo Jim Nantz and Trevor Immelman were left bemused as Matt Kuchar decided to walk off without completing the 72nd hole at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday.
As darkness descended on Sedgefield Country Club in North Carolina, Kuchar – playing in the final group – was seven shots off the lead and out of contention for the victory. He also had no chance of accruing enough points to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs as the final event of the regular season drew to a close.
But after taking his tee shot on the 508-yard par-four 18th, Kuchar decided he'd had enough for the day. Rules officials offered the 46-year-old and his playing partners Max Greyserman and Chad Rainey the chance to come back and complete their round on Monday morning.
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Ramey was also out of the running, while Greyserman needed a highly unlikely hole-out from the fairway to force a playoff with eventual winner Aaron Rai. While they both declined, Kuchar bizarrely accepted the offer and marked his ball with a tee before following his playing partners up the final hole as they finished out.
Kuchar did hold a press conference but he told Golf Channel's Todd Lewis that play should have been halted after his group finished the 16th hole, where Greyserman made a quadruple-bogey eight to blow his chance at victory.
"We were so far past when we should've stopped playing," Kuchar said. "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."
With only prize money at stake, he returned early on Monday morning without fans or broadcast crews in attendance and made a closing par to finish in a share of 12th place, worth $134,000.
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Veteran announcer Nantz could not conceal his confusion as the events played out. He said on the broadcast: "This is something I can't recall having seen before, a guy who is not truly in contention to win it.
“[Kuchar] said the horn has theoretically been blown and [referee] Ken Tackett told him yes and he has the power to be able to make that decision. Just he’s going to come out here tomorrow and I don’t think there’s going to be anybody here to watch it. I don’t expect we’re going to be bringing you that coverage tomorrow. But that is his prerogative. It’s just an interesting decision – he’s not going to make the playoffs.”
Nantz and former Masters champion Immelman tried to make sense of the situation but could not. Immelman said: “But let’s take it back five minutes earlier when he decided to tee off when the leader was about to walk into his second shot, in the middle of the fairway. It has been a really bizarre sequence of events.”
Nantz replied: “Yeah, that’s a fair point. It appeared that on the tee that he was in a hurry to go ahead and try and get it in. His two playing companions are going to finish.” Immelman concluded: “Yeah, if you go ahead and hit your tee shot, you got to think your intention is to get done.”
Viewers were left perplexed by Kuchar's decision not to finish up, leaving the tournament unfinished – although Wolverhampton's Rai was still presented with the trophy on the 18th green after clinching his first PGA Tour title after a two-shot victory.
One wrote on X: "Kuchar's season ends with a whimper. Pulling the plug on 18 is a tough look. Better luck next year.." Another added: "I can’t imagine any other PGAT player pulling off this childish act." A third said: "Disqualified? If not he should be," while a fourth wrote: "Total embarrassment."
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