On Friday, Matt Kuchar made his own bit of history as the American moved alongside Tiger Woods for the most WGC Match Play victories, with 36.
Playing Si Woo Kim in the third and final group stage match, Kuchar dominated proceedings, as a 7&6 win gifted him a tie for the record at an event which was first established in 1999. Kuchar, who has two wins and one tie at Austin Country Club, safely moved through to the knockout stages on Saturday, and now has a career record at the tournament of 36 wins 11 losses and 5 ties.
Speaking about the record win, the oldest man in the WGC Match Play field stated: “(It) crossed my mind last night after I missed that six-footer to win the match. It’s something — coming in here, I had no idea. I had to be told. Certainly very cool. The point of this tournament is to keep winning matches, and I wanted to win this match to be able to move on to the 16s. So that was the main focus.
“Certainly, getting a chance to tie any record of Tiger’s is an amazing thing. That’s something I still find it hard to comprehend that I’m saying that, that I tied one of his records. So I’m hugely proud, pleased. There’s 300 more records, I’m sure, to go, but it’s a fun one to be able to say you’ve kind of got something you tied Tiger with.”
One sad story though is that, once the final putt is holed on Sunday, the WGC Match Play will be no more. Recently, PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan, stated that the event just did not fit into the 2024 schedule, which is set for a huge upheaval due to the upcoming changes to the elevated events.
Kuchar defeated Hunter Mahan to claim the WGC Match Play title in 2013
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Certainly Kuchar, who won this event in 2013, will miss this tournament, as the 44-year-old claimed that “I think these events are great. 72 holes of stroke play every week sometimes runs together a bit. I miss the old International at Castle Pines. I miss the Stableford format. I think it was fun to mix it up.
“Match play, I certainly love, as you would guess with a good record, something unique, something different to do. Yeah, I’m bummed this is the final year for it.”
Having claimed his first victory in the tournament against Anthony Kim, Kuchar also currently shares second position in all-time matches played, with 52. In the last 16, he will now face two-time Match Play winner, Jason Day, with both men coming back to form after previous struggles.
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