The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
KUCHAR EARNS FIRST TOUR TITLE IN 4½ YEARS
Matt Kuchar ended more than four years without a PGA Tour victory Sunday by closing with a 2-under 69 and holding up through a few nervous moments down the stretch to win the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Kuchar had a four-shot lead going into the final round. But after making two bogeys over the first 67 holes in the tournament, he made two bogeys in two holes on Nos. 14 and 15, and his lead shrunk to one shot when Danny Lee made a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 16th hole. Lee finished with two pars for a 65.
Kuchar still wasn’t entirely in the clear. His 15-foot birdie attempt rolled about 3½ feet by the hole on No. 17 and he had to make that for par. And on the 18th, he left his 30-foot birdie putt about 3 feet short and had to roll that in to win by one shot.
“I didn’t want a 3-footer on the last hole,” Kuchar said. “I was hoping to have a three or four-shot lead for some wiggle room. But man, that felt awfully good.”
The 40-year-old former Georgia Tech golfer and St. Simons Island resident had gone 115 starts on the PGA Tour since his last victory in the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head in April 2014. It comes at the end of what had been a disappointing year in which Kuchar finished out of the top 70 on the PGA Tour money list for the first time since 2007, and failed to make the Ryder Cup team for the first time in 10 years.
“My 2018 wasn’t what I wanted,” Kuchar said.
Kuchar qualifies for the Sentry Tournament of Champions to start next year at Kapalua. He finished at 22-under 262, breaking by one the 72-hole record at Mayakoba previously held by Harris English.
PGA Tour rookie Cameron Champ had a 12-foot eagle attempt on the 13th hole that would have brought him within two shots, but he missed the putt and sent his next tee shot into the mangroves, making double bogey. He had another double bogey on the 17th and had to settle for a 69 to tie for 10th. J.J. Spaun (66) and Richy Werenski (67) tied for third.
Kuchar won for the eighth time on the PGA Tour in a career marked more by consistency than trophies. This year, he had neither. He had only four top 10s — his best finish was a tie for fifth in Phoenix — and was coming off a tie for 57th in Las Vegas.
He added Mayakoba at the last minute, and with his regular caddie having previous plans, Kuchar hired a local caddie from El Camaleon. He referred to the week as a “working vacation” because of the beaches and amenities at Mayakoba.
“Golf is such a funny game,” Kuchar said. “It’s hard to predict when it’s going to come around.”
European Tour: Lee Westwood got back in the winner’s circle, clinching his third title at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa by coming from behind to overhaul a threeshot deficit in the final round. Westwood denied Sergio Garcia a wire-to-wire victory at Sun City and Louis Oosthuizen a first success at his home tournament by surging past the two major winners with an 8-under-par 64.
Westwood won back-toback Nedbank titles in 201011, before the event was part of the tour, but hadn’t tasted victory on the European Tour since April 2014.
Westwood saved his best for last at Gary Player Country Club as the best round of the day and only the second 64 of the week saw him finish 15 under overall for a three-shot win over Garcia (70), with Oosthuizen (69) third on 11 under.
Champions: Vijay Singh rallied for a four-shot victory in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix and gave Bernhard Langer the season title. Langer won the Schwab Cup for the fifth time, and fourth time in the last five years.