Mayakoba a working vacation for Kuchars
Matt Kuchar put in a good day’s work in Thursday’s first round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic.
So, too, did his wife, Sybi. Kuchar, whose last of seven PGA Tour titles came in the 2014 RBC Heritage, shot a bogey-free, 7-under-par 64 at El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, to grab a share of the lead.
Joining Kuchar at the top of the leaderboard were Kramer Hickok and Dominic Bozzelli. Joining Kuchar inside the ropes was Sybi, who was called into emergency use when Damon Green, who is the caddie for Zach Johnson, fell ill with dehydration on a day of high humidity and temperatures rising into in the 90s.
With Green unable to continue after the fifth hole — the group’s 14th on the day — Sybi picked up Johnson’s bag. With Sybi on the bag, Johnson made three pars and eagled the par-5 seventh to finish with a 71.
“I didn’t talk too much to Damon, but you could tell it was heat fatigue, heat exhaustion, whatever the term is,” Matt Kuchar told PGATour.com. “It was really getting the best of him.
“I knew Sybi was in the crowd, I knew she had caddied for me before and was friendly with Zach and figured she would be good to handle it. And Zach would go easy on her.
“She knows the deal of keeping up and staying out of the way, and I knew Zach would be happy to see a friendly face to take over the bag.”
More than a dozen players finished at 65 as the course was there for the taking with little wind to challenge the players. In that large group were defending champion Patton Kizzire, Gary Woodland and Emiliano Grillo.
In a large group at 66 were Rickie Fowler, who was runner-up to Kizzire last year, and Pat Perez, who won this event in 2016.
For Kuchar, much of his success in the event is because he feels right at home, as his two sons are also with him this week.
“We have a great family week. It’s a
bit of a working vacation,” Kuchar said. “It’s an amazing resort. The beaches are beautiful, all the pools are great, all the facilities. They’ve done a world-class job here.
“So to be able to bring the family to enjoy some vacation time, for me it’s a bit of a working vacation. But now I get to go back and hang with the kids and hang at the pool and the beach and really looking forward to some downtime.”
Sergio rolling: Sergio Garcia, who won the Valderrama Masters in his last start, shot a bogey-free, 8-under-par 64 to take a four-shot lead at the European Tour’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa.
In second were Charl Schwartzel, Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Mikko Korhonen at Gary Player Country Club. The lead was the biggest first-round advantage on the European Tour since Arjun Atwal led by four at the Mauritius Open last November.
Rory McIlroy, one of five players with a chance of being crowned European No. 1 at the end of the season, shot 72.