PGA Tour rising star Max Greyserman was at the centre of a bizarre situation involving Matt Kuchar earlier this month, and the youngster has dubbed the veteran’s behaviour “strange”.
Greyserman was on track to claim a breakthrough victory at the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in North Carolina on August 11 before a back-nine blow-up opened the door for Wolverhampton’s Aaron Rai.
But neither of those men dominated the headlines in the aftermath. Instead, it was nine-time PGA Tour winner Kuchar who was in the spotlight. Bad weather saw the first day of the tournament washed out, meaning the final 36 holes were squeezed into the last day.
In fading light, Rai – playing one group ahead of Greyserman and Kuchar, carded a birdie at 18 to take – in all likelihood – an unassailable two-shot lead. Kuchar was way out of contention after a stuttering final round.
But he stunned commentators and fans alike when he decided to mark his ball after taking his final tee shot, returning the next day to complete his tournament. He was the only man on the course for the most low-key of Monday finishes, landing in a tie for 12th, seven shots off the winner. Other than prize money, he had nothing to play for.
Explaining his decision to walk off without finishing on the Sunday, Kuchar said he was trying to set an example for Greyserman – who he felt had been unfairly treated by tournament officials, arguing that play should have been postponed several holes earlier due to the increasing darkness.
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“I feel bad, the poor kid should have won this tournament,” Kuchar said. “By me not playing, it may show Max he had an important shot to hit.”
Greyserman, the world No. 51, says Kuchar’s verdict on the situation left him baffled. He told Fore Play: “He didn’t say anything to me, to be honest. I’m not really sure why he said that in his post-round press conference.
“We all went along our way down the [18th] fairway and I saw Aaron Rai made birdie and so at that point I was two shots away,” he said. “I’m like ‘OK, I don’t even need to come back in the morning’. I can try to hole the shot but I can’t see anything it doesn’t matter right?
“I’m like ‘Alright, let’s just finish’. I hit my shot, then look over at Kuchar and he’s in the trees and he just marked his ball, and he never said really anything. We just keep going and he’s like ‘Yeah I’m going to come back in the morning’. I don’t really know why, he never said anything to me. Not sure why he said that in the media.
“I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I think he needed TIO (Temporary immovable obstruction) relief – and benefit of the doubt – it was maybe going to take him a lot of time, which is fine for him. But to come out and say that he was trying to do something in service to me or something like that – I thought that was pretty strange.”
Greyserman’s performances this season earned him a place in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but he is unlikely to qualify for next week’s Tour Championship after a six-over-par opening round at the BMW Championship at Castle Pines in Colorado on Thursday. Kuchar did not qualify for the playoffs.