Team Kuchar birdies – and smiles – through gray skies to lead PNC Championship

ORLANDO, Fla. – Heading off shortly after daybreak Saturday morning, their tee times moved up because of a bleak forecast, the field at the PNC Championship was able to beat the worst of the rain on a gray day at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.

Trying to beat the Kuchars? Now, that proved to be a much, much more difficult task.

Team Kuchar – PGA TOUR pro Matt, 45, a nine-time winner, and his 16-year-old son, Cameron – teed off on No. 10, first group off, and shot 7-under 29 on their first nine. The wind was down, the Kuchars were hot and the birdies were falling, so it seemed a logical goal to try to match that fine 29 over their next nine holes.

They did one better.

Team Kuchar’s opening 15-under 57 (29-28 in a Scramble format) put the Kuchars three shots clear of the field in an event that features fathers and their sons, sons and their fathers, mothers and their sons and even dads and their daughters. The score was one off the tournament record of 56, shot by Davis Love III and his son, Dru, in 2018.

Four teams will begin Sunday’s final round three shots back at 12-under 60: the Langers (Bernhard and son Jason), Goosens (Retief and son Leo), Singhs (Vijay and son Qass) and Duvals (David and son Brady). Team Woods (Tiger and son Charlie), playing a fourth consecutive year and looking to win for the first time, opened with 64, which left them tied for 11th in the 20-team field.

Bernhard Langer, 66, the winningest player in the history of the PGA TOUR Champions with 46 victories, has won the PNC four times, twice previously with Jason, including 2019, when they beat the Goosens in a playoff. The Singhs are defending champions at PNC, having broken through a year ago to win in their 16th start together.

Saturday, though, belonged to the Kuchars, who did not seem bothered when light rains continued to fall. Cameron Kuchar, in fact, who has caddied for his father in the rain before, has a terrific attitude when it comes to playing in challenging conditions. Bring it on, he says.

“I like playing in bad weather,” Cameron said. Why? “Because no one else likes it.”

Cameron’s father grew up just north of Orlando, in Lake Mary, and was roughly Cameron’s age when he started coming into his own in golf. He would practice after school, and when his dad finished work, the two would race the evening sun, trying to get in nine holes at Heathrow Country Club. Matt went from junior golf to Georgia Tech to the 1997 U.S. Amateur Championship, and then onto a nice career playing the PGA TOUR.

So there are similarities between Cameron and his father in that regard, how they got hooked on the game at a young age and don’t mind working at the craft. Are there similarities wing-wise? Not so much.

“He’s longer than Matt (currently),” said Peter Kuchar, Matt’s dad, Cameron’s grandfather, and the caddie on Matt’s bag this week. “Cameron was given clubhead speed that Matt just didn’t have.”

Adds Matt, “Clearly (he) has great speed, amazing technique.”

There were only five holes at Ritz-Carlton that the Kuchars failed to birdie in the opening round. One of those was the par-5 third, their 12th hole of the day, where Matt reached the green in two with a 3-wood and Cameron converted the eagle putt. It pushed them to 11-under par through 12 holes. They were flying.

“That eagle putt was big,” said Cameron, who stands 6 feet, 4 inches (same as his father) and is a sophomore at Oxbridge Academy of the Palm Beaches (in West Palm Beach). “After I made it, I was talking to my brother in the cart, and I was like, ‘Oh, wow, we are 10 or 11 under through 12, this is pretty cool.”

It even prompted a little family humor between the Kuchars, a family that enjoys sharing a laugh or two. Carson Kuchar, a standout player in junior tennis, is caddying for his older brother this week, having played himself a year ago. The idea came up over Thanksgiving dinner; Cameron and Matt would be competing together, and Peter would be on Matt’s bag, so why not complete the family circle by having Carson caddie for Cameron?

After Matt had flushed his 3-wood onto the putting surface at No. 3, he said, “That’s for you, Carson.”

And when Cameron rolled in his putt, the banter and good karma continued.

“We made the putt and joked from there on, ‘Do it for Carson,’ “ Matt said, laughing. “We kept making birdies and Carson is out there, he’s excited, like ‘C’mon guys, do it for me.’ It was fun.”

The Kuchars moved from Sea Island, Georgia, to Jupiter, Florida, in large part to give their children a better opportunity to pursue the sports that they love. Athletics are in the family blood. Matt’s wife, Sybi, played tennis at Georgia Tech and she and Matt have played Mixed Doubles events alongside one another.

The family lives on the golf course at Bear Lakes; Cameron said it’s a two-minute drive via golf cart to get to the practice tee. He didn’t play high school golf this season because he missed tryouts but next fall he surely will make one coach a very happy person.

Carson is a nationally-ranked tennis player who just won a big junior event in Boca Raton. Cameron, who trains and practices with his father, minced no words when asked his future goals.

“Play on the PGA TOUR,” Cameron said. “Yes, Masters champion.”

Play well again on Sunday, and Cameron’s road to a Green Jacket could include a bright red Old Tom Morris champions’ belt from the PNC.