A Dream Coming True

Kenny Perry's Ryder Cup aspirations take another giant step forward at the Buick Open

A final-round 66 secured victory for Perry, who still plans to skip the British Open and play in Milwaukee.

By Bob Verdi

Photos By Charles Laberge

July 4, 2008

Closing in on his 48th birthday, Kenny Perry prefaces most self-critiques with the qualifying phrase "at my age," as if to imply that life in his bracket belongs in the slow lane. But when you ask about his Ryder Cup obsession, this gentleman golfer races for explanations. "You're never too old to set goals, not that making our team was a realistic goal," he said. "It was more of a dream, because I was ranked so low in the world at one point. Triple digits, worse than 100th. I mean, it was a longshot. Didn't make any sense for me to dream what I was dreaming, but there's the proof. At my age, if you put your mind to something, you never know."

At his age, Perry shot 66 last Sunday for a 19-under-269 total to win the Buick Open by one stroke, so put away the pencil and carve his name in stone for Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger's United States roster versus Europe this September. "I get goosebumps just thinking about playing for my country so near my home in Kentucky," said Perry, who moved to fourth place in the U.S. standings with the victory. "I told [wife] Sandy, this might be the worst thing I ever wished for. I'll be nervous, I might play poorly and get drilled for it. But that's all I've thought about all year. Being there."

Perry, who had played in the third-to-last twosome of the day, was on the practice range at Warwick Hills G&CC when his second victory in five weeks became official. First to excuse himself from a playoff was Woody Austin, the patriotic iconoclast who wore a shirt that could be described as a mural of stars and stripes and assorted Roman candles. If that was his way of auditioning for Azinger's American squad, it almost worked. Austin stole the show without falling into a lake when he pounced on a stretch of five holes, Nos. 12 through 16 (which includes two short par 4s and two par 5s), with four birdies. But then he three-putted Nos. 17 and 18 from a total of 100 or so feet, his only bogeys of the week on the back nine. "I threw it away," huffed Austin, after his 68. "So, yeah, I've got to figure it out or I'd better quit."

That left Bubba Watson, in the final group with Daniel Chopra and in need of a birdie to tie Perry, but he cut his drive into the trees at No. 18. "The old me would have been [angry] and not thinking about the next shot," Watson admitted later. "But I'm trying to stay focused, composed out there." Bubba escaped with a nifty, low 6-iron shot that settled 12 feet from the cup. He missed the putt, but his 68 meant a tie for second and encouraging vibes for a fellow who claims, "I want that Ryder Cup as much as Kenny." Watson chided a writer who described his style as "bomb and gouge," and Bubba's Sunday homestretch of 32 indicates he can handle tight competition on a tight course. Watson logs numerous practice rounds with Tiger Woods out of friendship, but Bubba confesses that he can't help but learn from "the best guy out here, not only physically. Mentally."

Perry began the final round three swings behind Chopra and made his first move with a 32 on Warwick Hills' more difficult front nine. He bogeyed No. 13, a reachable par 5, but then blasted from the sand into the cup on No. 14 for an eagle 2 to take the lead at 19 under. Almost simultaneously, Dudley Hart dropped from 18 under, also with a bogey at the 13th from an inhospitable lie in a hospitality area. Perry bogeyed the 15th, birdied the 16th, then parred in and hung around to explain why he still will play the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee in two weeks instead of the British Open. "I set up my schedule to make [Ryder Cup] points," he reminded his listeners, "and at my age, I'm not going to play where people think I should play. I've had success [in Milwaukee], and I committed to it a long time ago."