By: Rich Styles

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Matt Kuchar has spent his life and his golf career upholding doing the right thing. He holds himself to some pretty high standards. I’ve had several face to face interviews with Matt and he has always been upfront, honest and grateful.

Many of you have heard stories about Matt’s win in Mayakoba, his first win in four years.

His regular caddie, John Wood, was unable to be there. So, Matt got together with a local caddie, “El Tucan”, to carry his bag at the tournament. They made an agreement.  Matt would pay his local caddie a certain amount if he missed the cut, another amount if he made the cut, a higher amount if he placed in Top 10 and a flat fee if he won.

“El Tucan” carried the bag, which he does at the course and usually receives a few hundred dollars a week for doing that. Matt figured the yardage on each hole, read his own putts, etc. The caddie carried the bag for four days.

Well, as you know, Matt won. He paid the caddie the previously agreed amount of $4,000 plus another $1,000 for the win as a bonus. That was the deal.

I interviewed Matt’s Dad, Peter, last week, and we discussed the matter. Peter said, “a deal is a deal”. He further said, “if I hired a person to paint my house for a certain amount, that was our deal, our agreement.”  Peter said, Matt has always done the right thing all his life in everything he has done.

Well, since the tournament, social media and friends of “El Tucan”, has exploded. It has blown up. The media, “el Tucan”, his friends and family have all said he deserved more money than he was paid.

So, after the negative press from many outlets, Matt through the PGA office, agreed to give his local caddie an additional $45,000 plus an undisclosed amount to the Mayakoba Classic to use for local charities. Matt paid more than he said he originally agreed upon.

John Wood, Matt’s regular caddie, in various publications that “you do not know the real guy”. “Matt has treated me fairly during out whole relationship.”

Did Matt make a mistake? In my opinion, no. Should he have paid the local caddie more than they agreed upon. I think not.

But with the pressure from social media and discussions with the PGA Tour, the additional funds were paid to do more than the right thing. Matt went out of his way to make things right. He said, “I made a mistake, I was stubborn and hard headed.

In my mind, a deal is a deal.  After I won, it wasn’t a good deal. In the caddie’s case, he did not feel like he won in that situation, and I needed to make that right.  It’s as simple as that.”

This situation with Matt should be over. The media will probably continue to talk about it and attack his character.

I am a Kuchar fan.  I met him while he was practicing for the President’s Cup a few years ago. He was pleasant and a nice guy.

Every time I have interviewed him or seen him running on the beach on St. Simons Island early in the morning, he always says hi.

The bottom line is that sometimes you make a mistake, but in the end, he will always do the right thing to make it even righter.

Let’s move on, please