Musings: Perry wins the John Deere Classic

Kenny Perry isn't simply playing like Tiger Woods; now he's talking like him, too. Take a look at Perry's comment after his third win in his last five tournament appearances, this one at the John Deere Classic: "Pretty neat win for me knowing I didn't have my 'A' game and still be able to come out on top. That gives me a lot of confidence."

Didn't have my A game? Didn't Tiger trademark that phrase about six or eight years ago? A comment like that is just another sign that this unlikeliest of journeymen is doing his part to fill the void at the top of the PGA Tour created by Woods' absence.

Perry will never be on Woods' level - just look at how allergic he apparently is to major championships - but he is on a run that Tiger himself would be proud of.

To update a stat that we gave you a couple of weeks ago: In the 28 rounds of golf since Perry's final-round 81' cost him the Players Championship, he's posted a scoring average of 68.5. In those seven tournaments, he has three wins, a runner-up and a sixth-place finish. He won the prestigious Memorial for the third time in his career.

His well-publicized goal of making the Ryder Cup team and playing in front of fans in his home state of Kentucky has driven him to heights that are unprecedented for a solid but, until now, unspectacular career.
"It lit a fire under me," Perry understated.

He's surged to second on the money list and second in FedExCup points, behind only Woods in both categories, and with Woods out, he's even money to finish first on both lists. He's second in scoring behind Phil Mickelson (Tiger hasn't played enough rounds to qualify). His three wins this season trail only Woods' four. Since missing the cut at the Sony Open way back in January, he's made 18 straight cuts and posted 11 top-25 finishes.

Perry's right about one thing, though - he didn't have his A game at the John Deere, at least not on Sunday, when a final-hole bogey cost him a one-shot lead and put him in a playoff with Brad Adamonis and Jay Williamson. Perry was able to coast to the win in an excruciating one-hole playoff that saw both Adamonis and Williamson find water on the 18th hole. And so, the game's unlikeliest, most reluctant superstar settles in to his role as a torchbearer for the 40-somethings.

"My goal was never to be a superstar," he said. "I just wanted to make a living and support my kids. I don't want Tiger status."

No worries there; Tiger status will remain exclusive to Tiger himself. But Kenny Perry status is pretty good.

Major Disappointment
Casting a shadow over Perry's remarkable season is his ongoing love-hate relationship with the majors - mostly hate, apparently. He didn't qualify for the Masters. He eschewed sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open to focus his schedule on lesser tournaments that he felt would help him in the Ryder Cup standings - never mind the fact that winning a U.S. Open would be far more valuable on a points list than a John Deere or a Buick Open. Now, he's skipping the British Open, a major for which he has qualified, to play in the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.

So we're left with the spectacle of the game's hottest player having missed the season's first three majors. Perry will throw us all a bone and appear in the PGA Championship, but one has to wonder about his thinking in all of this.

Perry feels his game is ill-suited for British Open conditions, and he's honoring a commitment to the U.S. Bank, which is admirable and will provide a boost to a tournament that's competing for attention with a major. But when you're playing the best golf of your career, why not give it a shot? No offense to the Ryder Cup, but when history is written, no one will remember Perry's Ryder Cup record. Can you quote Jack Nicklaus' record in the event? Tiger Woods'? Didn't think so. But most of you know that Jack won 18 majors, and that Tiger has 14 and counting. Bottom line: An elite player's career is defined by his performance in the majors.

Perry's desire to represent his country at the Ryder Cup is worthy of respect, but now that his spot on the team is secure, a trip to Royal Birkdale seems like a no-brainer. The folks in Milwaukee would have understood. For a stark contrast, just listen to Jay Williamson, who lost to Perry at the John Deere but, unlike Perry, gleefully accepted his invitation to the British Open: "I don't think that has quite sunk in yet. To go play the British Open, I mean, I never thought that would happen to me."

Paula Coast-to-Coast
After an opening-round 60 at the Jamie Farr Classic, Paula Creamer looked like she would sail to a victory. And she did - although she continued an alarming trend of poor Sunday scores. Creamer's final-round 73 gave her a wire-to-wire win, but it was closer than it needed to be. Creamer saw her lead shrink to a single shot at one point, before she finished with a two-shot win over a charging Nicole Castrale.

"After you shoot 60, I swear, it's the hardest thing. Anything over that, and you feel like you're shooting 85," said Creamer, who earned the seventh LPGA Tour win of her young career. "Everybody's saying congratulations, congratulations. But you've still got three days left."

Two weeks ago, a final-round 78 took her out of contention at the U.S. Open, and last week, a final-round 74 did the same thing.

Ms. 59
Creamer's round of 60 came awfully close to matching the 59 posted by Annika Sorenstam during the 2001 Standard Register Ping, the only 59 in LPGA history. Sorenstam tried her hand at broadcasting over the weekend, joining the NBC gang in the booth for the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe, in what could be a dress rehearsal for life after competitive golf. She watched Rick Rhoden outlast a competitive field that included Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and a number of talented players.

Of course, none of those talented players was named Charles Barkley. Sir Charles rode his bizarre, hitchy golf swing to a last-place finish, amassing minus-81 points under the Modified Stableford scoring system.

"It is a very unorthodox swing," Sorenstam mused. "I try not to look at it too much, to be honest. I don't think it's a good image to have."

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