Kuchar hangs on at Mayakoba for first Tour win since 2014
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (AP) — Matt Kuchar ended more than four years without a PGA Tour victory Sunday by closing with a 2under 69 and holding up through a few nervous moments down the stretch to win the Mayakoba Golf Classic.
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 20foot 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 3 1/2 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 Kuchar 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 he failed to make the Ryder Cup team for the first time in 10 years.
He finished at 22-under 262, breaking by one the 72hole record at Mayakoba previously held by Harris English.
With the win, Kuchar qualifies for the Sentry Tournament of Champions to start next year at Kapalua.
“My 2018 wasn’t what I wanted,” Kuchar said. “This is a high note. It’s amazing thing to get a win. I go from ‘Hola’ to ‘Aloha.’ I’m pretty excited about that.”