Matt Kuchar's 17-Year Streak Ends At The Wyndham Championship
The PGA Tour veteran required a victory to maintain his standalone record but was unable to get it done at Sedgefield Country Club
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.
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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.”
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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.
Jonny Leighfield is our Staff News Writer who joined Golf Monthly just in time for the 2023 Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup. He graduated from the University of Brighton with a degree in Sport Journalism in 2017 and spent almost five years as the sole sports reporter at his local newspaper. During his time with Golf Monthly, Jonny has interviewed several stars of the game, including Robert MacIntyre, Ian Poulter, and Lee Westwood. An improving golfer himself, Jonny enjoys learning as much about the game as he can and is hoping to reach his Handicap goal of 18 at some stage. He attended both the 150th and 151st Open Championships and dreams of attending The Masters one day.
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