In horse racing parlance there is a term used when a promising colt faces more established opponents for the first time… “tested for class.” Will the upstart be able to exhibit the enduring qualities necessary to compete at a level he hasn’t yet experienced? It is, of course, a question easily translated to the two-legged world as well, applicable to all of us when challenged with situations demanding our best. How we “class up” goes far in predicting our success in life… or as a nation. Implicit in the term is a type of behavior, a way of doing things that distinguishes one from those unwilling or unable to bring such qualities to the table. Much of it is not something one can practice, you either possess class or you don’t, and there are many opportunities life presents to lay bare whether one has it or not.
Matt Kuchar is a solid, world-ranked professional golfer. Until last November, however, he was too often embodieding the not-so-complementary label many who follow the PGA tour assigned him long ago…. “check collector.” This term applies to a number of otherwise top pros, who nonetheless find winning a tournament a bridge too far. Week after week they make cuts and play solid enough golf to finish in the top 20, or even the top 10, which with today’s stratospheric PGA purse structure means they are multi-millionaires and corporate billboards, yet and still victory most often seems to elude them.
This wasn’t how it was so supposed to go with Kuchar. He arrived on the scene with vast potential for greatness. A two-time All American at Georgia Tech, Kuchar won the US Amateur Championship in 1997. In 1998 he was the low amateur in both the Masters and US Open. By the time he turned pro in 2000 it was assumed by most he would join the PGA tour’s elite before long, several major titles certainly seemed attainable. However, Kuchar struggled out of the gate, and actually had to go through the indignity of requalifying to get back his playing card before he revamped his swing in 2008 and began to finally achieve some of his earlier potential.
However, 20 years later it remains accurate to term his career underwhelming from initial expectations. No doubt he is a fixture near the top of yearly earnings lists, won the 2012 Tour Championship and a World Match Play title as well, and is usually a candidate for Ryder Cup play, but the wins have only come in fits and starts with no major titles among them, and that surely couldn’t be what the angular Georgian had in mind back in 2000.
Yet and still, these days millions are won on the PGA tour without ever touching a trophy, and it only takes one to relight the relevance candle. Last November at the Mayakoba Challenge in Cancun, Mexico, Kuchar scored a solid victory worth a cool $1.3 million, turning a prosperous season into a winning one. That his regular caddie decided to take the week off speaks to the modest expectations Kuchar brought south of the border. When he hired local caddie David Ortiz to carry his bag, they apparently didn’t even discuss actually winning the tournament, but agreed to $4000 if Kuchar finished in the top ten.
Much of what defines class revolves around what a person doesn’t have to do. To simply cater to what is mandatory marks a bare minimum level for making one’s way through civilized society. Class involves an effortless grace exhibited by gestures one takes upon themselves, picking up a dinner check, complimenting people without fail when it’s important to them, treating those attending to you as customer with respect and gratitude, allowing propers to come one’s way without first fishing for them, gracefully accepting defeat…. and victory.
It is assumed in our society that financial comfort affords those fortunate enough to enjoy it the time and opportunity to expand whatever predisposition they possess toward class. Certainly a windfall of $1.3 million for one fortunate enough to make millions playing a sport many can’t even afford to pursue would present a perfect opportunity for inner grace to shine. No doubt Kuchar was grateful to the local Ortiz for dutifully handling his bag and advising him on to a victory he didn’t count on and would present many welcome opportunities coming into 2019. If tour players are treated like sultans, tour winners are treated like gods.
Of course Kuchar was under no obligation to pay anything more than the $4K they agreed to, but regular tour caddies customarily received 10% of a winner’s share. So a range was established by which Matt Kuchar’s class quotient could be meticulously quantified… $0 to $130K. To be fair, one could argue a full 10% may have caused problems with his regular bag man, who was rueing his decision to stay home, but there was ample room to do the right thing and really share his good fortune, endowing a life changing windfall to somebody who clearly deserved it. What would Bobby Jones, the Georgian all others are measured by do?! How far up the ladder would the victor’s generosity go?…..Alas, Kuchar went low and decided a $1000 tip was sufficient. After winning $1.3 million the best he felt required to do by David Ortiz was an extra $1 grand. Cary Grant he ain’t! The genteel Jones surely turned in his grave.
As word got out about Kuchar’s stinginess, and questions began coming his way from both golf and mainstream press, he appeared genuinely mystified by the controversy. After all, a deal was a deal; he was under no obligation to give Ortiz anything extra. “For a guy who makes 200 a day, a 5000 dollar week is a really big week,” Kuchar declared, holding to his guns as he waited for the controversy to pass….. It didn’t.
Once the story went viral on line and social media waded in, it began to dawn on Kuchar he might want to rethink his position. For his part Ortiz made clear 10% was never an expectation, but neither was it unreasonable to hope for something far more substantial than what he had been offered. Kuchar’s agent offered 15K to end the issue; Ortiz had 50K in mind, about 4% of the winner’s share. Meanwhile, Kuchar, as vanilla and uncontroversial as any player on tour, was now taking relentless heat, while ironically playing some of the best golf of his life, beginning the 2019 season with yet another victory in Hawaii’s Sony Open.
Kuchar finally decided to accede to the 50K figure, hoping to put an end to a fully self-inflicted distraction. In addition, he made a sizable charitable contribution and issued a public mea culpa, admonishing himself for clueless cheapness he came to recognize and assured all would not repeat. Unfortunately for him, it will take a while for event galleries to forget the incident; derisive comments will linger in the air for months to come.
The entire episode is instructive because it illustrates a clear divide everpresent throughout our national discussion. Even a cursory look at social media comments and various op-ed pieces on the subject highlights two camps: a clear majority disdainful of miserly conduct from someone ungrateful for his outrageously great life; and a significant minority who fail to see what he did wrong, convinced living up to his obligation was more than enough. And there it is…. class vs. no class. Every hour we now see in the White House constant proof that material wealth in no way guarantees class. Matt Kuchar, and his defenders, clarify way too many in our nation have no idea why it should, and no concept of why that’s a problem. Our current national malady in a nutshell! BC