Peter Kuchar, Father of PGA Tours Matt Kuchar, dead at 73

Tiger Woods is not the only one PGA Tour Pro with a heavy heart this week after losing a parent. One day after Woods announced that his mother, Kuldida, was dead, was Golf Week Has learned that Peter Kuchar, father of nine-time tour winner Matt Kuchard is also dead.

Peter Kuchar was a life insurance seller and at one point was ranked No. 1 in double rooms in the state of Florida. But it was in golf that his son excelled most. He and Matt learned golf together at the Heathrow Country Club outside Orlando.

“I remember every day after high school was dropped by driving reach and I wanted to hit balls,” Matt told Orlandos Spectrum 13 TV. “When my dad finished work, we would go out and play nine holes.”

Peter Caddied for his son when he won the American amateur in 1997 at Cog Hill near Chicago.

“He did everything he watched and it was really fun, it made my job easy,” Peter said of being on the bag of the American amateur.

He developed a reputation for his violent celebrations as Matt played on Masters and the US Open and made a name for himself with an impressive amateur race. Peter hung up with his caddy smack, Matt became a professional and was Matt’s biggest cheerleader (along with his wife Meg. They also had a daughter, Rebecca). Matt won the 2012 Players Championship among nine titles and competed in the 1999 Walker Cup, Four Ryder Cups and Five Presidents Cups. (He retired from this week’s WM Phoenix Open.)

In 2018, Matt and Peter joined forces to compete in the PNC championship, resulting in this humorous story, which Peter told of receiving an E email from Matt that said simply, “Get ready!”

“I ran into Jim Furyk at TPC (Sawgrass) and he said” I hear you are playing in Dad-son, “I said” I’m not sure it’s true, “Peter remembered.

He initially missed the attachment of the e -mail that stated the tournament participants. Peter served as a caddy in the two-person team show in Orlando for the past several years, when Matt went on to play with Sons Cameron and Carson in the event, including in December.

“There is a photograph of him and I on the fairway right after an approach shot,” Matt said of his favorite moment. “I can’t believe there are as many people as we were ahead of playing together as a team.”

Peter had moved to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, later in life and was a regular competitor at TPC Sawgrass with Munchkins. He was 73.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: PGA Tour -Star Matt Kuchars Father Peter is dead