Can’t explain who lets Matt Kuchar get out in front of his own media debacles, but hey, it provides fodder for the media. Have a listen:

Never one to be shy about his opinion on topics that matter, @ScramblerGolf on Twitter blew up my phone all Saturday and Sunday, with texts about the atrocity that unfolded in Austin. I offered the opportunity for a BuffaloGolfer “He Said or He Said” debate, and the opinionated one accepted. Have a look at our debate on the event that has everyone STILL talking, from the water cooler to pro golfers everywhere.

The Scrambler Mo’ Golf

Bad temper? Yes.  On Sportmanship? Garcia Clobbers Kuchar 9&8

Over the weekend, I watched the Kuchar / Garcia scenario unfolding on the 7th hole at the WGC-Match Play, and knew that it was going to be misinterpreted.  The announcers’ tenor immediately focused on Garcia’s temper, but what was woefully under-analyzed was Kuchar’s poor sportsmanship.

Those who know me realize I am a fervent opponent of oversimplified, binary thinking and preach for appreciation of nuance.  I knew this topic was fertile ground for the former, and I’m here to advocate for the latter. 

I was traveling and didn’t read much analysis about the incident until I saw than my colleague, Mo Golf, liked this tweet from John Huggan:

“Re the Sergio thing. Kuchar has no obligation to concede next hole.  All Sergio’s fault. Plus, real competitors / sportsmen don’t ask to get away with anything when they screw up

This aligned with other misleading headlines such as CBS Sports’ offering of “Sergio Garcia wanted Matt Kuchar to concede a hole after botched putt.” 

Both these implied that Sergio Garcia was the poor sport and I’m here to tell you it’s the exact opposite.  Was he upset? Yes.  Why? Because he’s a better sportsman than Matt Kuchar.

Any implication that Sergio “asked for a concession” to make up for his gaffe is dead wrong. He suggested it to Kuchar as a possibility when Matt indicated he didn’t want to win that way. Here’s Kuchar’s quote from ASAP Sports:

“I said, “Listen, I don’t know how to handle this, but I didn’t concede the putt, Sergio missed the putt.” Sergio said, totally his mistake. He knew he made a mistake. I said, I didn’t want that to be how a hole was won or lost. And he said, “Well, you can concede a hole.” I’m not sure I’m ready to concede a hole.

What made Sergio upset was Kuchar’s inherent hypocrisy in those last two statements. And it’s upsetting, because Sergio has a far greater sense of sportsmanship & authenticity. Sergio screws up with his temper, but also owns it.

Bones Mackay indicated during the broadcast that Sergio has granted a similar type of concession when similar odd incidents have given him an advantage.  Sergio’s suggestion wasn’t driven by pure self-interest.  It was a reflection of an inherent sense of equity.

That’s the difference.

When Sergio says “I feel bad winning that way,” he remedies it. When Kuchar says “I don’t want to win that way,” he means “but I don’t want to give back the advantage I received, even though I fully intended to concede a 4 inch putt.”

Sergio’s reaction on 8 wasn’t because he was mad about the rule.  He admitted that he screwed up, both at the time and after the match.   He was upset about Kuchar’s phoniness and lack of genuine sportsmanship. 

Sergio would hold himself to a standard of not wanting to win due to a technical glitch when he knew in his heart of hearts that he intended to concede a putt. That’s his inherent expectation of sportsmanship & integrity, and it confounds him when others don’t have the same sense (especially when they articulate that they “don’t want to win that way”).

Think of the positive press Kuchar would have received if he had “evened” things out by conceding the putt on 8.  We’d be reading how golf is truly a sport of gentlemen.  Kuchar had the chance to be a decent sportsman, but made the conscious choice to pass.

To be clear, Kuchar was under no “technical” obligation.  But combined with the caddie fiasco earlier this year (where there was no “technical obligation” to pay a generous bonus), Kuchar is demonstrating a willingness to do the bare minimum in terms of character and sportsmanship.

In terms of genuine sportsmanship, Garcia is the clear victor.

Bad temper? Yes.  On Sportmanship? Garcia Clobbers Kuchar 9&8

Over the weekend, I DID NOT watch the Kucher/Garcia unfolding. One thing I know about golf announcers is, they aren’t super bright and they aren’t super quick. They also are beholding to the PGA Tour and shy away from controversy. They were certainly scrambling to say as little as possible, with as many single-syllable words as they know.

In this instance, nuance can be overstated. Simple should be obvious and logical, but remember that we are dealing with a form of entertainment for this readership, not a profession that determines our livelihood

It is true; I did hit the LIKE button on Twitter; I like Huggan’s insight and typically agree with his reaction to things. That said, he is chubby and a brit, so we don’t always get along.

“Re the Sergio thing. Kuchar has no obligation to concede next hole.  All Sergio’s fault. Plus, real competitors / sportsmen don’t ask to get away with anything when they screw up

Here is where we diverge. The Scrambler is reading waaaay too much nuance into this, and can’t get out of his own, commiserate way.

We KNOW that Sergio Garcia is immature, petulant, whiny, delusional, but so are the majority of professional golfers. Some hide these faults better on television than others.

In a great interview, Kuchar called Georgia Tech (his alma mater) a math school, suggesting that his English wasn’t so great. Kuchar can buy and sell me 100 times over, but he isn’t very kind and certainly not willing to be generous, unless publicly trolled. See Kuchar v. Mexican Caddy for more.

“I said, “Listen, I don’t know how to handle this, but I didn’t concede the putt, Sergio missed the putt.” Sergio said, totally his mistake. He knew he made a mistake. I said, I didn’t want that to be how a hole was won or lost. And he said, “Well, you can concede a hole.” I’m not sure I’m ready to concede a hole.

Sergio spits into golf holes. Sergio takes chunks out of green fringes. Sergio does a lot of weird shit on the golf course. He is also a husband and a father, as is Kuchar. Pray for their children.

Sergio has a lot of ghosts. He is not Seve, nor is he Chema (Jose Maria Olazabal.) For a time, he wanted to be Tiger, and might want to be Miguel Angel next week. When he decides that being Sergio is quite enough, than the madness has a chance to stop.

That’s the difference.

Yaah, I can’t disagree with this assessment. Europeans are communal and they really do care about the history of the game. I would love to give Kuchar truth serum and dig deep into his daddy issues.

Sergio needs to not be an ass and gain control of his emotions. Or, he can just pull a Roberto DiVicenzo, say “What a stupid I am,” and move on to the next hole. Guys must love facing him in match play, as they know that his immaturity will cost him at least one hole. 

I’m not convinced that this is true. I suspect that, in 2016, Garcia would have undercut Justin Rose when he had a chance to win the Masters in extra holes. On the other hand, I think that Rose made the all-time concession of that title to the Spaniard, but will never admit to it publicly.

Yup, yup and yup. Kuchar needed his agent by his side in Austin, as he cannot come up with these chess moves on his own. His agent is as greedy as Kuchar, so they will undercut anyone, anywhere, to get ahead.

This is where the debate ends. Unless you love to eviscerate your intestines with relentless, unfettered emotional abuse (see Scramble v. Himself) you don’t care beyond these points: Garcia messed up>Kuchar could have been nice>Garcia is completely responsible>Kuchar doesn’t understand PR … and on and on and on.

I think that the clear victor was Kuchar, and that Garcia needs to get his shit together.