Current:Home > ContactMatt Kuchar bizarrely stops playing on 72nd hole of Wyndham Championship -Finovate
Matt Kuchar bizarrely stops playing on 72nd hole of Wyndham Championship
View
Date:2025-04-27 08:32:59
Aaron Rai won his first PGA Tour title on Sunday, claiming a two-stroke win at the Wyndham Championship.
But the tournament didn't officially end as darkness fell on Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.
That's because Matt Kuchar bizarrely stopped playing after hitting his tee shot on the 18th hole, opting to mark his ball in the pine straw 212 yards from the hole and walk the course with the other players in the last group as they completed their rounds.
"It has been a really bizarre sequence of events," said CBS Sports analyst Trevor Immelman as the network's broadcast came to a close.
Kuchar led the tournament after 36 holes, but was out of contention at 11-under when he stepped to the 18th tee to conclude a marathon, 36-hole day stemming from weather delays due to Tropical Storm Debby.
With the sun already set and visibility declining, tournament officials informed Kuchar, Chad Ramey and Max Greyserman that rather than blow the horn to suspend play, they would be allowed to finish the hole then or complete it the next day.
In an apparent attempt to finish quickly, Kuchar unknowingly hit into the group ahead of him, one that included Rai – who led Greyserman by one stroke at the time.
"Why did he tee off on 18 when the fairway wasn’t clear? To me that was the egregious error," Golf Channel’s Paige Mackenzie later said. "It was completely disrespectful."
After Kuchar's ball landed left of the fairway, he informed officials he would finish his round Monday morning – even though he had no chance of advancing to the PGA Tour's playoffs. As things turned out, Rai birdied the final hole to push his lead to two strokes and Greyserman closed with a par to finish second.
As the sun rose again on Monday, Kuchar was the only player back out on the course to make the results official.
He hit his second shot on the green and parred the hole to finish in a tie for 12th, earning him $134,695.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
veryGood! (3565)
Related
- Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
- Meat made from cells, not livestock, is here. But will it ever replace traditional meat?
- Selling the O.C.’s Alex Hall Calls Out Tyler Stanaland After He “Swooned” and “Disappeared” on Her
- California scientists seek higher pay in three-day strike drawing thousands of picketers
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- How Maren Morris Has Been Privately Supporting Kyle Richards Amid Mauricio Umansky Separation
- New York judge lifts gag order that barred Donald Trump from maligning court staff in fraud trial
- Alex Murdaugh murder trial judge steps aside after Murdaugh asks for new trial
- 2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
- Rory McIlroy has shot land hilariously on woman's lap at World Tour Championship
Ranking
- Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
- Police are investigating a sexual assault allegation against a Utah man who inspired a hit movie
- China’s agreement expected to slow flow of fentanyl into US, but not solve overdose epidemic
- College Football Playoff concert series to feature Jack Harlow, Latto and Jon Pardi
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- Inspired by a 1990s tabloid story, 'May December' fictionalizes a real tragedy
- 5 tennis players were suspended for match-fixing in a case tied to a Belgian syndicate
- How Maren Morris Has Been Privately Supporting Kyle Richards Amid Mauricio Umansky Separation
Recommendation
McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
Proof Pete Davidson Is 30, Flirty and Thriving on Milestone Birthday
Inspired by a 1990s tabloid story, 'May December' fictionalizes a real tragedy
Pastoralists have raised livestock in harsh climates for millennia. What can they teach us today?
Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
South Carolina deputy shot during chase by driver who was later wounded, sheriff says
As Georgia looks to court-ordered redistricting, not only Republicans are in peril
Eight Las Vegas high schoolers face murder charges in their classmate’s death. Here’s what we know