Matt Kuchar’s 17-year streak as the only golfer to appear in every year of the FedEx Cup playoffs is over.
The nine-time PGA Tour winner has been a feature of the FedEx Cup season-ender since it made its debut in 2007 and had triumphed in two events – the 2009 Turning Stone Resort Championship and The Barclays (now the FedEx St Jude Championship) in 2010 – but required a victory at Sedgefield Country Club to maintain that record.
However, Kuchar fell short in a heavily weather-affected Wyndham Championship – the final tournament of the regular season.
He was in a strong position to clinch one of the final playoff spots after leading the tournament at the culmination of the second round thanks to a pair of 64s. But, on a day where each golfer who made the cut was required to complete at least 36 holes in order for the event to finish on time, the 46-year-old struggled to go low again.
Kuchar carded a third-round 70 in the morning before completing 17 holes of his final round late on Sunday, sitting at one-over for the day and 11-under for the tournament.
Unable to catch tournament champion, Aaron Rai – who ended on -18 – Kuchar opted to take his drive on the 18th but then mark his ball and walk off the course, returning on Monday when better light aided his attempt to find a birdie and earn an extra $90,000 or so.
His playing partners carried on to finish up in fading light, while CBS announcer Jim Nantz said: “The tournament is over, but it’s not. It’s so strange. Actually, we’ll be one player out here tomorrow morning, I suspect somewhere around 8 o’clock.”
According to Golf Channel reporter, Todd Lewis, Kuchar claimed: “I was trying to set an example for Max [Greyserman]. We were so far past when we should’ve stopped play. …By me not playing, I thought it might show Max he’s got an important shot to hit.”
At the time, Greyserman – who had led by four strokes at one point on the back nine before a quadruple bogey sucked him back into the pack – was trailing Rai by one. Rai went on to seal the deal via a closing birdie and Greyserman could only make par.
Kuchar will now enjoy a few weeks of rest before likely returning when the FedEx Cup Fall series begins later this year.
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