That's The Ticket
Kenny Perry's win at the Memorial moves him to fifth in U.S. Ryder Cup points, likely earning him a 'home game' in September
The halfway cut of six over was the highest of the year, but Perry had no problems, sharing the lead after 36 holes.
With Tiger Woods still nursing a knee injury and his coveted lead in the FedEx Cup race dwindling, a thoroughly decent man who is fixing to join the living legend on America's Ryder Cup team this September won the Memorial last Sunday. Kenny Perry, desperate to play the biennial match against Europe in his native Kentucky, all but secured a spot on Captain Paul Azinger's roster by shooting a three-under-par 69 in the final round at Muirfield Village GC, for a four-day total of eight-under 280. Perry beat a foursome of contenders by two strokes, he never really missed a shot and now, maybe, he can exhale. If so, Perry will do that at the Stanford St. Jude Championship in Memphis, his seventh consecutive tournament.
"I've been home one day in six weeks, but I can't let my guard down," said Perry, who has arranged his schedule carefully to accommodate venues where he can "pile up them points" and fulfill his 2008 mission. He's not in the U.S. Open, and he did not attempt to qualify, but he's fifth on the Ryder Cup list now, which is fine. "I don't want to be a sympathy pick," Perry went on, mindful that Azinger will have four wildcard selections. "I saw where Paul said in the paper here that he wanted guys on his team to win tournaments. That caught my attention."
Azinger also mentioned that he wouldn't resist having a local guy or two on his squad to stir the galleries at Valhalla GC, about two hours from Perry's residence in Franklin. J.B. Holmes is a candidate who also would meet Azinger's perceived desire to accumulate a lineup of power hitters. Perry certainly isn't a young bomber, but at 47, he remains a superlative driver, plenty long and comprehensively straight. In any case, it is heartening to see a veteran such as Perry chase goals besides building a nest egg. He always has been out front for charitable and humanitarian causes and now, at $23 million and counting, his motor is running "because I want to play for my country at a home game."
Perry feels likewise about Muirfield, where he has triumphed three times -- 1991, his first of 10 wins on the PGA Tour, and again in 2003. "That ties me with Tiger Woods here," Perry noted. "And there I am, sitting next to Jack Nicklaus, the greatest golfer ever, telling me how great I played. It's mind-boggling for a low-life like me from a town of 8,000."
Perry's wife, Sandy, and their three children were all present for a victory -- another first -- as he broke from a five-way second-place scrum after 54 holes, three swings behind Mathew Goggin. Perry rewarded his family with what he described as one of the best rounds of his life, built on a 33 going out and a few nifty escapes thereafter.
Meanwhile, none of the four runners-up broke par on the back nine. Mike Weir chipped in on No. 9 to forge a brief tie with Perry at eight under, but bogeyed the next two holes and shot 71. Jerry Kelly, the expressive former hockey player, adhered to his theme for the week. He struck the ball better than he putted it and also joined Weir at 282. Justin Rose eagled No. 7 to seize the lead but dropped two shots the rest of the way for another 71.
Goggin's overnight margin evaporated when he recorded his second bogey at No. 4. He finished with 74, but not surprisingly, Perry touted the Aussie as someone who will win soon. "I'll pump him up next time I see him," said Perry. "We're all brothers out here." Perry has made 14 straight cuts, some of them hurtful. He finished T-15 at the Players, despite closing with 81. At the AT&T Classic playoff the next week his approach to the 73rd hole caromed off a tree into the water. But last Sunday there were no failed exams. He rescued par from a scary lie in a bunker beside the par-3 12th, chipped deftly from the thick stuff on No. 14 for par. His only bogey occurred at No. 17 after what longtime caddie Freddie Sanders said "was a perfect 7-iron that the wind knocked down" into a bunker. Moreover, Perry made all the putts he misjudged during Saturday's 74, after rain stole a bit of fire from the immaculate greens.
