Kuchar’s last try at Tiger mark
Sweeping his three matches in group play will break Woods’ record of 36 wins
AUSTIN, Texas — Matt Kuchar has a chance to break at least one record belonging to Tiger Woods, and the Dell Technologies Match Play will be his last chance.
That’s because this is the last edition of the Match Play. And for starters, Kuchar feels lucky just to be part of the 64-man field at Austin Country Club.
At stake: He needs to win three matches to set the record for most matches won in a tournament that dates to 1999. Kuchar is guaranteed three matches, starting Wednesday, in the group format.
Kuchar has reached the Final Four four times, winning the championship in 2013, losing to Kevin Kisner in 2019 and twice losing in the semifinals. His career mark is 34-11-4. Woods, the only three-time winner of Match Play, has a 36-12 mark.
“This is an event I love, an event that’s been really good to me,” Kuchar said Tuesday as he ducked inside from a steady drizzle. “It’s something I had my eye on and had to do some asking around, ‘Hey, how do I look to get in this thing?’ I’m awfully excited
it worked out.”
Match Play was the most unique of the World Golf Championships when the series began in 1999, and it was the last of them to go.
The WGC at Firestone moved to Memphis, Tenn., in 2019 and then was converted two years later to a Fedex Cup playoff event.
The WGC that initially alternated between the U.S. and Europe moved to Doral (and absorbed a regular PGA
Tour event), and then headed to Mexico City when a sponsor could not be found for the course, and then was shut down by the pandemic.
The HSBC Champions in Shanghai hasn’t been played since 2019 due to the pandemic, and the China Golf Association hasn’t allowed it to resume. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan doesn’t expect that event to continue with the move toward so many elevated events in the new schedule.
And now the Dell Match Play is done after this year, a blow for fans who enjoy the most unpredictable nature of 18-hole matches and for Austin, which will be without the highest level of golf.
It ends with a 64-man field that had to dip down to No. 77 in the world ranking to fill the field, and another sign of divisive times in golf.
That means 11 players would not be in Austin if not for LIV Golf, including Kuchar.
“I guess I’m grateful for LIV for a lot of things,” Kuchar said with a laugh, a reference to the $20 million purse this week, which was part of the PGA Tour’s response to the Saudifunded threat of LIV.
Kuchar can break Woods’ record by sweeping his three matches in group play. Kuchar is the No. 59 seed and faces Viktor Hovland, Chris Kirk and Si Woo Kim — all of whom have won tournaments in the last four months.