Hurricane Irene held off early yesterday, but Matt Kuchar couldn’t hold off Dustin Johnson. About an hour after they finished, the heavens opened, too late for Kuchar to win by rainout.
Kuchar, who shot a 68 in the final round, led the hurricane-shortened Barclays through the first and second rounds, and sat in the curious position of being declared the winner if yesterday’s final round wasn’t completed. He also was in the final group, the threesome out there latest.
“I thought we were going to be playing in a lot of rain,” said Kuchar, the 2010 Barclays champ who finished in second place at 17-under. “It turned out to be a good day for golf.
“I had all the gear with me, all the preparations with me,” said Kuchar, girded to battle the hurricane and the course, where he’d have won if the rain won. “Yesterday’s forecast was pretty bad for today. Then it got better and better as I continued to check. I was definitely glad to see that forecast. The stoppages are no fun.
“We all wanted to get this thing completed and be able to get out of here safely.”
Johnson had similar sentiments, with an extra reason: He had to finish to win, which he did after shooting a final round 65 to finish at 19-under.
“We didn’t really know,” Johnson said. “Coming into the day, we thought that it’s not going to be great, but the weather guys, they weren’t really sure. Anything could happen.
“We could have played nine and got stopped or we could have played them all. We got lucky. The weather held up for us long enough. The way I got started, I was hoping that we were going to keep continuing on playing.”
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The Irene rain-check controversy remains unsolved.
There still is no word of refunds for holders of tickets for today’s rained-out fourth round of The Barclays — even Barclays CEO Bob Diamond didn’t have an answer.
Tournament officials Friday said Sunday ticket holders would not be admitted for yesterday’s completion of the tournament, cut to 54-holes by Hurricane Irene.
Instead, they said ticket holders for today’s washed-out round at Plainfield Country Club would be offered an any-day ticket to next year’s Barclays at Bethpage on Long Island. Because of the distance to Bethpage, some ticket holders might not care to make the trek.
A Barclays official optimistically believed Friday that Sunday tickets would be honored yesterday, but tournament officials ruled otherwise.
Diamond sounded as if he wants to offer refunds.
“The most important thing is that we don’t want the fans who had tickets for Sunday, and there’s no tournament, to feel disillusioned,” he said. “How do we accommodate them today and then next year?”
Diamond seemed to suggest the policy might be reconsidered.
“I know the commission announced that everyone would get an opportunity next year but frankly we haven’t spent a lot of time on that yet,” Diamond said. “The PGA Tour is going do what’s in the best interests of everyone. They always do.
“I’m sure there will be a thoughtful response to that,” he added. “We’re focused on this tournament today, to be honest.”
Diamond said Barclays’ tournaments have had bad luck with the weather this year.
“We plan everything at Barclays, and I take tremendous pride in how much planning we do, but the one thing we haven’t gotten right this year is the weather,” Diamond said. “In Singapore, we went to Monday, in the Scottish Open, we lost Saturday and went to 54 holes and here we are with 54 holes and Irene.”
In contrast to Padraig Harrington, who said Liberty National would be a signature site for The Barclays and provide a Manhattan-view identity, Diamond lauded the rotation that brings the tournament back to the Plainfield Country Club in 2015.
“I would predict you’re going to see more tournaments do what The Barclays has done over the next couple years,” Diamond said. “Think of what value there would be, in some of the locations, to have a mix of courses.
“On one hand, even in the majors, you can say there’s nothing better than the Masters, because it’s at Augusta National every single year. On the other hand, would people necessarily want to see the PGA Championship at the same course every year?”
Diamond said the tournament still has a New York emphasis, though three of four courses are in New Jersey.
“What was most important to us was that it was the Greater New York area, and that was a key part of the branding,” Diamond said. “I’m sure we can come up with great courses in San Francisco and Chicago, but this is a New York event.
“We never envisioned, certainly when we were not part of the FedEx Cup structure, that we would be able to find courses like Ridgewood, Plainfield, Liberty National, Bethpage Black, courses of that stature that are clamoring to be a part of this,” he added. “Do I love that feeling of being right [outside] Manhattan with the aerial views [at Liberty National]? Absolutely. Having one of the rotation tournaments that close to Manhattan, that much a part of the city, is terrific.”