THE FLATS – Matt Kuchar ties Tiger Woods for most all-time victories at the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship … Ollie Schniederjans gets back to competition … David Duval on the golf ball rollback and more … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
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MATT KUCHAR TIES TIGER WOODS’ MATCH PLAY RECORD
When Matt Kuchar’s career started at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion and “Hook ‘Em Horns” favorite heading into the weekend at Austin Country Club, wasn’t in high school yet and the event was played in Arizona with a different title sponsor.
Even more defining is that Kuchar’s first victim, Anthony Kim, was playing just his second Match Play and has since mysteriously walked away from the game.
Along the way, the 44-year-old has left a trail of opponents that range from Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson to Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. He won the event in 2013, three years before the World Golf Championship relocated to Austin, and lost in the finals in 2019 to Kevin Kisner.
But the best testament to Kuchar’s longevity and match play prowess arrived Friday when he rolled over Si Woo Kim, 7 and 6, for his 36th victory in the event to tie the all-time record held by somebody named Tiger Woods.
“Getting a chance to tie any record of Tiger’s is an amazing thing,” said Kuchar, who advanced to the knockout round with his Friday victory. “That’s something I still find it hard to comprehend that I’m saying, that I tied one of his records. I’m hugely proud, pleased. There’s 300 more records [Woods holds], I’m sure, to go, but it’s a fun one to be able to say you’ve kind of got something you tied Tiger with.”
Editor’s note: Kuchar fell in the round of 16 (1-up) to Jason Day and has a 36-12-5 all-time record in the event.
PGA Tour: Matt Kuchar joins Tiger Woods in WGC-Dell Match Play history
Matt Kuchar defeats Si Woo Kim 7-and-6 to clinch his spot in the knockouts and equal Tiger Woods’ @DellMatchPlay wins record (36). 👏
📺: Golf Channel and @peacock pic.twitter.com/Le5HS06xsr
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) March 24, 2023
A historic W for Matt Kuchar 🙌
He ties @TigerWoods‘ record for most matches won @DellMatchPlay (36) and advances to the Round of 16. pic.twitter.com/Hdp1JBnmf9
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 24, 2023
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SCHNIEDERJANS RESUMES PRO CAREER IN SAVANNAH
He didn’t make the cut, but it was a victory of sorts for Ollie Schniederjans when he teed it up for the first time in 18 months at the Club Car Championship in Savannah, Ga.
The former world No. 1 amateur and Korn Ferry Tour champion has spent the last year recovering from surgery to both hips and made it back to competition last weekend, where he shot rounds of 75-70 to (+1) to missed playing on the weekend by three strokes.
Former Tech stars Chris Petefish and Seth Reeves, both of whom have Korn Ferry status, and Ben Smith, a Monday qualifier, also missed the cut. Only Reeves will compete this week as the tour moves to Santiago, Chile for the Astara Chile Classic.
This week on the @KornFerryTour…
The return of former world No. 1 amateur @ollie_gt, who has completed just one event in the past 18 months as he’s dealt with injuries, hip surgeries.
Great to see Ollie ready to get his career back in motion: https://t.co/k2tw12A67g pic.twitter.com/w2fBe71i9M
— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) March 20, 2023
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ELSEWHERE
Paul Haley II tied for 35th place at the the PGA Tour’s alternate event last weekend, posting a 6-under-par 282 at the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic; Chesson Hadley and Richy Werenski both missed the cut … David Duval tied for 53rd at The Galleri Classic (217, +1) in Rancho Mirage, Calif. On PGA Tour Championsh … Will Dickson missed the cut at the Augusta (Ga.) Open (144, even) on the G Pro Tour … Shun Yat Hak missed the cut (T-94) at the World City Championship (144, +4) on the Asian Tour.
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DUVAL SOUNDS OFF ON TIGER, BALL ROLL-BACK
Last week, due to some technical difficulties, the great David Duval answered a total of one question on The Loop podcast. Fortunately for us, he was kind enough to come back on this week, and his thoughts on a variety of topics dominating golf right now were well worth the wait.
Duval, the 2001 Open Champion who spent 15 weeks as World No. 1, had become one of the prominent voices in golf broadcasting over the last decade, but decided to make a run on the PGA Tour Champions when he turned 50 in November of 2021. He’s currently three events into his second season on the senior tour, having just matched his best career finish with a T-31 at the Hoag Classic.
Double D getting back into the literal swing of things has led to far less TV time, which means we get to hear his takes on hot-button issues far less frequently. Naturally, we had to get his take on the USGA and R&A’s rollback announcement, which seemed to align with what two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas said ahead of the Valspar Championship last week.
https://t.co/DZtQ5ZGcad : David Duval on carrying Tiger and the one thing he and Brandel Chamblee actually agree on https://t.co/GJnKSrO7vz pic.twitter.com/pfvf2a52Kg
— GolfBlog.com (@GolfBlogDotCom) March 21, 2023
