As he was walking up to the 17th green in his Friday round at The Barclays, defending champion Matt Kuchar learned how the event was now scheduled to finish.
“My walking scorer announced to the group walking to 17 green (the 8th hole) that it was going to be shortened to a 54-hole tournament, play to hopefully finish by two o’clock,” Kuchar said.
With a par there and the final hole, Kuchar locked up a bogey-free round of 6-under 65 to take the tournament lead on 14-under at Plainfield Country Club. Suddenly, Kuchar is now just one round away from successfully defending the title he won last year at Ridgewood in a playoff.
“It was not all that exciting today. 6-under par, no bogeys, there was nothing really of note,” Kuchar said of the round.
Other than the whole leading-the-tournament thing on 14-under, sure.
Despite having the lead with one round to go, Kuchar is not safe by any means. Dustin Johnson lurks a shot behind after he equaled Kuchar’s first round of 63 on Friday.
He may be dominating a susceptible Plainfield with just one bogey in his first two rounds, but Kuchar would prefer to have a fourth round to settle it all because he feels more time is on his side.
“I think the standard 72 proves the best players generally come out winners after 72. So for me I feel like the more golf we play, the better my chances,” he explained.
While he would like the luxury of a full weekend docket, Kuchar knows Hurricane Irene is going to render that impossible.
He said, “I think they definitely made the right decision with 54 holes. The forecast just looks terrible. I think all of us are going to be excited to wrap this thing up and get out of here as quickly and safely as we can.”
