Smiling assassin: Is Matt Kuchar the phoniest ‘nice guy’ in golf?

Behind this megawatt smile and nice guy facade lurks a fierce competitor who stiffs his caddie and refuses to concede an inch on the golf course.

Matt Kuchar smiles after winning the first hole during semi-final play against Lucas Bjerregaard at the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship golf tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2019, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Don’t be fooled by Matt Kuchar’s smile.

Former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley attacked Kuchar on Saturday, saying Kuchar’s caddie-stiffing incident was just the precursor to his controversial decision not to concede a hole to Sergio Garcia in the quarterfinal at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play on Saturday.

“It gives an insight into Matt Kuchar,” McGinley told Sky Sports, via the Telegraph. “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.”

Who was wrong in the Matt Kuchar vs. Sergio Garcia controversy? @Daniel_Rapaport weighs in: pic.twitter.com/BE39Kfl7jV

— SI Golf (@SI_Golf) April 1, 2019

Kuchar added another embarrassing moment to the start of the year when he didn’t concede a hole to Garcia after the Spaniard botched an 8-foot putt on the seventh hole in the quarterfinals. When Garcia went for the tap-in, his ball spun around the cup and failed to drop in. Garcia casually picked up the ball and walked off the green, thinking Kuchar would concede the putt, except he never did.

Kuchar later said he would have conceded the putt if he could have, but he didn’t have the chance due to Garcia’s quick-moving putt. Kuchar then went to a rules official to explain the situation, which predictably led to Garcia losing the hole. It would prove to be the decisive margin in Kuchar’s 1 up win that powered him to the finals, where he lost to Garcia 3&2 on Sunday.

Sergio Garcia, second from left and Matt Kuchar, right, discuss on the eighth hole what had happened on the seventh green, during the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship. Picture: AP Photo/Eric Gay

“In some ways, I really admire the toughness of him,” McGinley continued. “We’ve seen this year with the caddie thing and how he doubled down on it and now we’ve seen it again. There’s a hardness, a toughness about Matt Kuchar that he puts a big facade up around.”

McGinley’s claims about Kuchar’s actual self come after the former PGA nice guy was busted for stiffing a fill-in caddie after his win at the Mayakoba Classic in November. Kuchar won the $1.296 million pot, but only paid his caddie, David Giral Ortiz, $5,000.

Matt Kuchar quickly becoming the boo-man of golf! That is absolutely outrageous that he didn't concede that putt to Garcia. #DellMatchPlay

— Sean Bissett PGA ⛳️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@SeanBissettPGA) March 30, 2019

Matt Kuchar has apologised for his "out of touch and insensitive comments" regarding the situation with Mexican caddie David "El Tucan" Ortiz. His statement: pic.twitter.com/RH6Slysygy

— Today's Golfer (@TheTodaysGolfer) February 16, 2019

Ortiz had initially asked for $50,000, but Kuchar deemed the $5,000 payment “fair” after the two had agreed to the fee prior to the tournament. Kuchar fell under public pressure to reward Ortiz what he wanted, and eventually apologised to Ortiz and said he would pay the total amount he wanted nearly three months after the tournament.

PGA Tour pro James Hahn reacted on Twitter after the Garcia incident, questioning Kuchar’s optics.

“Did Kuchar seriously not give a 6 inch putt to Sergio just now? And called a rules official to confirm he did not give him the putt. Seriously?” Hahn tweeted. “And the announcers are siding with Kuchar? Shame on you guys. Sergio deserves better than that.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Post