Matt Kuchar nearly won the British Open in 2017 and a place in history until Jordan Spieth went nuts
SOUTHPORT, England – Matt Kuchar was five holes away from immortality.
Five holes away at the 2017 British Open here at Royal Birkdale from having his name permanently inscribed on the Claret Jug, golf’s oldest trophy, and a spot in the British Open field until he turns 60. Instead, he got steamrolled by Jordan Spieth and one of the great final-round flourishes in major championship history and failed to qualify for the 154th Open this week. From nearly being the Champion Golfer of the Year to not in the field since 2021 and never really sniffing the title again.
“It felt like it was in my hands and all of a sudden Jordan Spieth put on a show and claimed it for himself,” Kuchar tells Golfweek in a recent phone interview. “Listen, I got beat but it’s tough when at some point you feel like you got that close. I think that makes it even tougher.”
Birkdale was the site of Kuchar’s first British Open in 1998 as the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, where he missed the cut as he did in 2008 but in 2017 he shot 65 out of the gate to make his presence felt in the battle for the Claret Jug.
“That week I remember I was frustrated that I was hitting big fades and couldn’t turn the ball over for the life of me from right to left. I kept trying to hit a draw because there are so many crosswinds that I thought it would be helpful to be able to, in a left-to-right wind to be able to hold one against the wind,” Kuchar explained. “Sometimes when you can predict the outcome, golf gets a little easier.”
He shot 71 in the second round and a 66 on Saturday, which included a double bogey on No. 16 when he drove into a fairway bunker, had to punch out and then three-putted after his approach. He trailed Spieth by three strokes heading into the final round with a golden opportunity to win his first major. Wife Sybi didn’t want to miss being there, so she and sons Cameron and Carson hopped on an overnight flight from Colorado.
Spieth already was spraying the ball all over the course and leaking oil with three 3-putts on the front nine before his tee shot at the par-4 13th sailed 75 yards right of the fairway. Kuchar’s caddie, John Wood, wasn’t sure they’d even find the ball in the thick grass, but they did and Spieth’s only option was to take an unplayable. Then he smartly asked if the practice range was considered in bounds. He was allowed to take sight-of-line relief on a clean lie.
“When I saw that he was gonna be able to drop it on the fairway and get it up near the green with his short game I thought there was a chance. I still thought most likely he was going to make six but certainly did not think it was out of the realm of possibility for him to make five,” Wood recalled.
Spieth hit a 3-iron back into play, pitched to 10 feet and holed the putt for one of the great bogeys of all time. “I felt like I stole one,” he said.
Still, Kuchar held a one-shot lead despite burning the edge with his birdie putt. Trailing for the first time all week, Spieth, 23 at the time, stuffed his tee shot 2 feet from the hole at the par-3 14th to kick start a birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie stretch and win by three shots over Kuchar.
“It was quite the turnaround from hitting a big foul ball to all of a sudden playing spectacular golf from there in,” Kuchar said. “It was a great run and there was definitely a point where I felt like Holy Cow, it’s my time. I’m going to claim a major. Jordan Spieth put it in another gear and played incredible. Nothing I can do except tip my cap to the guy who beat me. I’m a big fan of Jordan Spieth. He was on such amazing form for a long stretch there, especially with the putter, and what he did those last six holes with the putter was pretty remarkable.”
Wood said that being so close to completing the dream of winning a major is something Kuchar probably never fully got over but the way Spieth grabbed the title with both fists softens the pain.
“Matt played the next four holes in 2 under. You got a one-shot lead, you play the next four holes in 2 under you’d think you’d have the lead still, but you know, we didn’t. It was just a case of we got blitzed,” he said. “The fact that Kuch played well. You know, it made it easier. It wasn’t like we gave it away. Kuch played well, and Jordan did Jordan things at the end to take it away. That made it probably a little bit easier that you know, it wasn’t given away. We did almost everything we could. But yeah, I’m fine with it. I don’t think about it every night.”
Said Kuchar: “I did everything I wanted to do and that’s the deal, you go out and play the course and don’t worry about your opponent and add them up at the end of the week and Jordan was the low man that week.”
Kuchar didn’t realize his wife and boys were there until he was walking off the green. That’s when the emotions of the day boiled over for Kuchar, who was photographed with his son, Carson, crying on his shoulder and Cameron and Sybil consoling him. It was a heartbreaking defeat that made him one of golf’s forever nearly men at the majors.
“I think my kids initially were mad at Jordan,” Kuchar recalled. “It was something like a month or more later and we were at a friend’s property riding ATVs, and Jordan took my oldest son Cameron on this ride and so Cameron quickly forgave him and befriended him.
“As a dad, you want to be Superman to your kids and when you’re not it’s tough. You want to be their hero. When you’re not, it’s emotional but Superman is not always Superman.”
The man in the cape was just 23 and racked up his third major title, the fastest to do so since Jack Nicklaus in 1963.
Kuchar would go on to win two more of his nine career PGA Tour titles but never again would get so close to tasting major championship victory. At 48, it’s unlikely he will get another chance at an Open at Royal Birkdale and it’s been five years since he’s competed in the championship; it’s not beyond reason to think he never will again.
“To this day it’s a disappointment, sure,” Wood said. “You look back and think that we had a good chance, a really good chance.”
Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Matt Kuchar nearly won the British Open in 2017 and a place in history until Jordan Spieth went nuts
