The PGA Tour is like a travelling band, they rock up at a venue, they do everything in their power to get it done by Sunday evening, they pack up and go again to the next one. After Storm Debby wiped out all play on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, it took a significant effort to get 72 holes done and dusted before sunset on Sunday. They managed it, but lone ranger Matt Kuchar had other ideas.
At first it seemed like Kuchar was in a rush, as he hit his drive on the 72nd hole while the group ahead, including eventual winner Aaron Rai, was standing in the fairway. Then the American bizarrely opted to mark his ball and call play for the day. With playing partners Max Greyserman and Chad Ramey deciding to finish the tournament and move on with their lives, it meant Kuchar, in tied 12th position and unable to progress to the next stage of the FedEx Cup playoffs anyway, had to come back to finish his tournament on Monday.
“This is something I don’t ever recall having seen before,” said commentator Jim Nantz on CBS. This is Nantz who has been regularly covering PGA Tour tournaments since the 1980s.
The PGA Tour announced that play resumed at 8am local time at Sedgefield Golf Club and finished at 8.06am, in front of a few dozen officials and media. And after all that, Kuchar made par.
Lydia Ko’s gold medal tops stellar career
Lydia Ko’s whirlwind career reached a new high with Olympic gold to complete the set, after silver and bronze medals at previous Games. The New Zealander can now point at a stellar CV that includes two majors, 20 LPGA Tour wins and an Olympic gold by the age of 27. But it has not always been as easy as it promised to be when, at 17, she became the youngest player to be world number one in 2015.
Given her elegant swing and smooth putting stroke, you are left to wonder how she has not won a Major since she was a teenager. Former coach David Leadbetter blamed Ko’s meddling parents for her not reaching her potential, as for the start of the 2017 season she chose to change her coach, caddie and equipment when at the top of the world. By 2020, she had dropped outside the top 50 of the world rankings, but since 2022, it has been a steady resurgence leading to Paris on Saturday.
“It’s definitely a life peak for me here. I don’t think I’ve experienced this kind of adrenaline before, and to do it here, it really can’t get any better,” Ko said. With her previously stated plan to retire from professional golf at 30, it may be her last Olympics, and if so, what a way to bow out.
In words
“Unlike some other tours, LIV enforces these rules rigorously, which made this particularly challenging for me. However, I respect the need for these rules and penalties – they are essential for maintaining the integrity of the sport.” – Graeme McDowell making a curious dig at his former tours in his statement after being suspended and fined by LIV for an anti-doping violation from Nashville.
Golfers find the Olympics mean more
Leona Maguire’s Olympic challenge was unfortunately hindered by “rotten” flu-like symptoms as she finished bottom of the leaderboard at Le Golf National. But her comments after her final round showed what having the sport at the Olympics means to golfers as it cements its place in the schedule in its third iteration.
“It was one of those things where if it was any other week, I wouldn’t have played this week,” she said. “Playing in the Games and representing Ireland, it’s one of those things you don’t give up until the very end, even if it feels it is too far gone.”
The Cavan woman was not playing for a medal, money or rankings over the final two rounds and could have easily withdrawn, but she stuck with it.
Maguire’s comments echoed what Rory McIlroy said about the Olympics, about playing for pride and the love of the game.
“With how much of a s**tshow the game of golf is right now, you think of tournaments that might be the purest form of competition of the sport, not playing for money,” he said. “So it speaks volumes for what is important in sport.”
Scottie Scheffler broke down in tears in getting his gold medal for the United States. Don’t expect a similar response if he wins the $4 million first place prize at the FedEx St Jude Championship this week.
In number – 36 million
Scheffler’s earnings from the PGA Tour this year so far in dollars after winning the Comcast Business Top 10 bonus. That is before the FedEx Cup playoffs even start.
Know the Rules
Q: An opponent or a fellow competitor purposely steps on the player’s line of putt with the intention of either improving the line (eg by pressing down a raised tuft of grass) or of damaging it (eg by making spike marks). What is the ruling?
A: In either case, the opponent or the fellow competitor was in breach of Rule 1-2: the penalty is loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play, unless the committee decides to impose a penalty of disqualification. In stroke play, if the line of the putt has been damaged, the player may restore the line of the putt to its previous condition. A player is entitled to the lie and line of putt he had when his ball came to rest. The line of putt may be restored by anyone.
In the Bag
Lydia Ko – Olympics Golf
Driver: Ping G430 MAX 10K, (Mitsubishi Diamana PD50 stiff)
3-wood: Ping G430 Max 15-degree, (Mitsubishi Diamana PD60 stiff)
Hybrids: Ping G430 19 and 22-degrees, (Graphite Design TourAD HY65 stiff)
Irons: Ping i230 (5,6,7-iron) Ping Blueprint S (8,9-iron), (Aerotech Steelfiber FC70 Stiff)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 46.10 F-grind (bend to 44°), 48.10 F-grind (bent to 49°), 54.10 S-grind, 58.08 M-grind (AeroTech SteelFiber shafts)
Putter: Scotty Cameron P5 GSS tour centre-shafted prototype
Ball: Titleist ProV1X
