As part of Compleat Golfer’s year in review series, ANDRE HUISAMEN looks Matt Kuchar and the way controversy has become entangled in his game.
Mayakoba caddie scandal
After storming to an impressive victory at the Mayakoba Classic at the end of last year, Kuchar was due to pay his caddie the expected 10% of his winnings, but because Kuchar’s regular caddie John Wood wasn’t available to assist him that week, the veteran American hired local caddie, David ‘El Tucan’ Ortiz.
It later became clear that Kuchar didn’t pay Ortiz the full amount, which saw the 41-year-old copping a lot of criticism from his peers and fans alike.
In February, Kuchar released a statement apologising to Ortiz and admitting that he made an error of judgement. They pair reached an amicable settlement.
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Matchplay confusion
Although this incident was more down to Garcia’s misinterpretation of the situation, Kuchar was unfortunately involved in another moment that placed him in the spotlight.
The pair were contesting a tight fought battle at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at the Austin Country Club, when the Spaniard missed a seven-foot par putt on the seventh hole. He tried to backhand his next shot, which was inches away from the hole, but that too slipped past the edge of the cup.
Kuchar then told the officials that he didn’t concede Garcia’s final shot because he didn’t once look up to him to get his nod of approval. Instead the 2017 Masters champion swiftly made his way to his ball with his putter the other way around for what he thought would be an easy tap-in.
That missed tap-in put saw Garcia lose the hole which led to a bit of an argument between him and Kuchar, following Kuchar’s confession to the officials about his non-concession.
The pair went on to film a clumsy video in a bid to restore some PR points.
Memorial madness
Kuchar tried his very best to get a free drop from a pitch mark at the Memorial, despite a video replay showing that the mark didn’t come from his tee shot and was already there.
It involved two match officials and a lot of TV replays to conclude that Kuchar should not, and correctly so, be granted a free drop but the nine-time winner on the PGA TOUR was still unhappy. A third opinion also didn’t go his way.
Impediments in Hamburg
Whilst struggling out on the course, Kuchar found himself in a bunker or what was seen as a waste area at the Porsche European Open in Hamburg back in September.
Kuchar got his interpretation of the new 2019 rule, which allows players to move or remove loose objects or obstructions, wrong. The rule however states it will not be deemed a penalty, as long as the physical changes don’t improve the position of the ball.
That obviously wasn’t the case with Kuchar as he removed quite a lot of sand around his ball, which clearly gave him an easier shot. It even led to one commentator suggesting he might as well just use a spade at the rate that he was removing the loose impediments.
Let’s hope 2020 will see Kuchar start making the headlines for the right reasons instead of the unprecedented string of controversies.
