Matt Kuchar blows 6-shot lead, tied with Camilo Villegas in Mexico

LOS CABOS, Mexico — Matt Kuchar’s commanding lead slipped away in a stunning late collapse during the World Wide Technology Championship at El Cardonal at Diamante, a golf course designed by Tiger Woods. This turn of events has left Kuchar tied with Camilo Villegas, setting the stage for an exciting final round.

Heading into the breezy and cloudy afternoon on the tip of Baja California, Kuchar was comfortably ahead by 6 strokes, sitting at an impressive 24-under par. However, his fortunes quickly changed when his drive on the 15th hole veered left into dense bushes, resulting in a disastrous quadruple-bogey 8. To compound his woes, Kuchar then bogeyed the par-3 16th hole but salvaged a 12-foot bogey putt.

“Listen, this course has some trickiness to it,” admitted Kuchar. “That 15th hole is one I think we all have circled — ‘I think this could be a big number’ — and for me, it was today. Listen, it’s golf.”

Despite his setback, Kuchar finished with a 5-under 67, making two pars on the final two holes. Villegas, who played alongside Kuchar in the final group, also had an eventful round, ending with a birdie-birdie-bogey-birdie sequence to match Kuchar’s score of 19 under.

“Emotionally, I was pretty at peace on the golf course and made great birdies on No. 15 and 16, probably two of the holes that were playing the toughest,” shared Villegas. “Matt was kind of running away, but golf is weird and he came back to us.”

Kuchar, 45 years old, had previously triumphed in this tournament in 2018 at Mayakoba. He followed that victory with another win at the Sony Open in Hawaii, which marked his ninth PGA Tour title.

“I really like the state of my game, so here I am,” said Kuchar confidently. “I’m pretty good at letting that stuff roll off my back. I let that one roll off my back and go try to play some good golf tomorrow.”

After impressive rounds of 65 on Thursday and Friday, Kuchar eagled the par-5 first hole on Saturday and continued his strong performance with six birdies and only one bogey on the front nine, completing it in 29 shots. He then birdied holes 12 to 14, reaching a score of 10 under for the round and an overall total of 24 under before his sudden collapse.

“One bad swing is probably all I made,” analyzed Kuchar. “That drive on 15, tried to ride the wind. I’m not typically one to try to hit draws and I hit a hook in the junk, and then from there 15 can kind of creep up and kind of get you.”

Villegas, who led by 2 strokes after impressive opening rounds of 64-64, is currently striving to secure his full PGA Tour card. The 41-year-old Colombian has split his time between the Korn Ferry Tour and limited PGA Tour events this year, and he currently sits at No. 223 in the FedEx Cup standings with only three tournaments left. The top 125 players earn full cards for 2024, while the top 150 at least have conditional status.

“We’ll be back tomorrow, play good, keep staying aggressive,” Villegas declared optimistically. “There’s a lot of low scores on this golf course. See what happens.”

Erik van Rooyen, who entered the week at No. 125 in the FedEx Cup standings, lurks just one stroke behind at 18 under after a solid 66.

“The fairways are wide, so everyone’s going to be hitting all of them. It’s a second-shot golf course,” analyzed van Rooyen. “There’s lots of little pockets in the greens and it kind of suits my game. I’ve putted well this week as well, so everything’s coming together nicely.”

Mackenzie Hughes (63), Will Gordon (67), and Justin Suh (68) are all at 17 under.

Kuchar and Villegas are the first two players aged 40 or over to share the 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour since Stewart Cink and Ben Crane accomplished the feat in the 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic.