Matt Kuchar's nice guy image is a 'big facade', says Paul McGinley after 'gimme' controversy

Matt Kuchar’s runner-up finish here at the Dell WGC Match Play occurred under a cloud as his full role in the “Gimmegate” controversy emerged.

The American lost to compatriot Kevin Kisner 3&2 in the final at Austin Country Club and in the locker room there were whispers of “karma”. And it is fair to say that questions will go on being asked about Kuchar’s Saturday brouhaha with Sergio Garcia.

Paul McGinley, the former Ryder Cup captain, has already claimed that the saga has underlined that Kuchar’s nice-guy image is “a big façade”.

The incident occurred on the seventh during their quarter-final. Garcia narrowly missed a putt to win the hole and petulantly, and rather pathetically, swiped away the four-inch tap-in. Except Kuchar had not yet officially conceded the putt.

It was initially believed that referee Robby Ware had taken it upon himself to go across and tell Kuchar that there was no other option and that Garcia must lose the hole, which seemed so significant when the match went to the 18th. But Kuchar has admitted that he was the one who decided to get Ware involved, when otherwise the moment would have gone unnoticed.

“I said to Sergio ‘I didn't say anything [to concede the putt] I'm not sure how this works out’,” Kuchar said “I didn't want that to be an issue. So I said to Robby Ware, ‘listen, I don't know how to handle this, but I didn't concede the putt and Sergio missed the putt’.

“Robby stated how the rule works and I apologised to Sergio and said, ‘I didn't want that to be how a hole was won or lost’.  Sergio said, ‘well, you can concede a hole’. I thought about it and said I didn't like that idea, either.”

The pair argued with each other on the 10th fairway, with Garcia one stage standing in Kuchar’s way with his arms outstretched, and inevitably, social media went into uproar And although Garcia’s ongoing temperament issues were the main focus, it has hardly been unanimous support for Kuchar.

Lee Westwood, the former world No 1, opined “I don’t think anyone came out of that well”, while Denis Pugh, Francesco Molinari’s coach, expressed the belief that Kuchar knew exactly how it would unfold as soon as he involved the official.

“Sergio rarely comes out of any ‘incident’ looking good and this is no exception, but usually an opponent wouldn’t say to the referee ‘what happens now?’” Pugh tweeted. “Like Kuchar didn’t know…”

That tallies with McGinley’s comments. The Irishman is another who feels uncomfortable by the fact that it was Kuchar who initiated the referee’s decision and he also referenced Kuchar’s PR nightmare last month, when it came to light he  had only originally paid a Mexican caddie $5,000 after winning $1.3m for victory in the Mayakoba Classic. Caddies usually receive 10 per cent.

“It gives an insight into Matt Kuchar,” McGinley, the Sky Sports analyst, said. “You see the smiley, nice Matt Kuchar. You’ve seen the incident with the caddie. There’s a hardness about him. Don’t be fooled by him. I think we saw another illustration of it there. There’s a hardness, a toughness about Matt Kuchar that he puts a big facade up around.”

Kuchar was no match for Kisner. The 35-year-old is a tenacious campaigner and what he lacks in size he more than makes up for in heart. He made up for finishing second to Bubba Watson last year and how Jim Furyk must wish he picked him for the US Ryder Cup team last September.

“I learned a lot from 12 months ago,” Kisner said. “I learned about preparation, I learned not to get too amped up for that final. You still have to come out and play golf. I don't think either one of us played our best, but I drove it great all week. It was gruelling, definitely with the winds and the cold temperature today. A long week, but I prevailed and I’m a world golf champion.”

In the morning’s semi-finals, Kisner beat Molinari - the European Ryder Cup hero of Paris - on the 18th, calling a halt to the Italian’s extraordinary recent record in this mano-a-mano format.

Having won five out of five matches at Le Golf National, Molinari, the reigning Open champion, extended his winning matchplay run to 10 by reaching the last four.  And what made that double-digit sequence all the more remarkable was that he was never taken to the 18th once in any of those victories. However, Kisner capitalised on Molinari’s bogey on the last.

Molinari later claimed third by beating the Dane Lucas Bjerregaard 4&2 in the consolation match. “Overall, I’m happy but just didn't quite play my best against Kevin,” Molinari said. “I played quite well on the front nine and then just dropped too many easy shots on the back nine, unfortunately. But it is still a positive week.”

As it was for Bjerregaard. Certainly, the 27-year-old will never forget the week in which he beat Tiger Woods in the quarter-final. “I can see from my Instagram and so forth that a few people have gotten to know my name,” Bjerregaard, the world No 52, said. “Today sucks. I'll be honest with you. But it's been a great week no matter what.”