SHAME OF THE GAME
Kuchar ponies up dough, but might not save image
THIS just in from the better-late-than-never department: Matt Kuchar came to his senses and has vowed to pay the caddie he stiffed three months ago in Mexico the fair wage he deserved in the first place.
The question now for Kuchar is whether the damage done to his squeakyclean image as one of the good guys on the PGA Tour is repairable or if it will forever stain him.
Kuchar should come to his senses and fire his agent, Mark Steinberg, for professional malpractice because while Kuchar surely must be held accountable for his actions, it was Steinberg’s job to save Kuchar from himself.
On Friday, an embarrassed and shamed Kuchar, while he was playing at the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club after days of being publicly excoriated for paying caddie David Giral Ortiz a mere $5,000 of his winning check of nearly $1.3 million at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in November, issued a heartfelt and contrite statement that was released during his round.
“That is not who I am and not what I want to represent,” Kuchar said. “My entire tour career, I have tried to show respect and positivity. In this situation, I have not lived up to those values or to the expectations I have set for myself.”
Kuchar, in an interview earlier in the week, told Golf.com, “I certainly don’t lose sleep over this,” adding that Ortiz “making $5,000 is a great week” for him.
“This week, I made comments that were out of touch and insensitive, making a bad situation worse,” Kuchar said in his statement. “They made it seem like I was marginalizing David Ortiz and his fi- nancial situation, which was not my intention. I read them again and cringed.”
In private, Kuchar surely must be cringing at the poor job Steinberg did for him.
Kuchar said he planned to call Ortiz on Friday night and has “made sure he has received the full total that he has requested.”
Ortiz, in a recent interview with Golf.com, said he felt he deserved $50,000 for his work, which is $79,000 less than Kuchar’s regular caddie, John Wood, would have received as the 10 percent going rate PGA Tour winners pay their caddies.
Kuchar also said he planned to make a donation to the Mayakoba tournament to be distributed to various philanthropic causes in the local communities.
“For my fans, as well as fans of the game, I want to apologize to you for not rep- resenting the values instilled in this incredible sport,” he wrote. “Golf is a game where we call penalties on ourselves. I should have done that long ago and not let this situation escalate.”
Kuchar, who shot 68 in his first round at the Genesis and was 1-over through 13 holes of his second round before play was suspended for the day, was heckled by a number of spectators Friday. Kuchar, who usually is serenaded by fans respectfully yelling “Kooch” at him, heard some “Mooch” catcalls during his round.
One fan yelled, “Go low, Kooch, go low! Just not on the gratuity!”
With his actions Friday, Kuchar hoped to stem the building waves of negativity that had been enveloping him. The question is whether it’s a case of too little too late.