Perry to U.S. Open: Thanks, but no thanks

In light of his plight, Perry believes it's a defensible position for a gray-haired veteran who is trying to dodge bullets when he can. Just last week, at Colonial, he said that he was dog tired, and playing in a 36-hole Open qualifier would only make it worse. He's too old for that stuff, he said.

"I don't do those anymore," he said.

Besides, looking ahead, he also intends to play in Hartford's Travelers Championship the week after the Open, where he has 10 finishes in the top 15, and the Buick Open, where he is a past champion. He's also riding a hot streak after twice playing in Sunday's final group over the past three weeks, and doesn't want to waste it on a venue where he's got mental cobwebs.

But it just feels so -- wrong-headed. Whatever the reasoning, it's a sentiment that feels anathema to everything the majors represent for most players of Perry's ilk -- namely, the most important events in the game. Memorial founder Jack Nicklaus reaffirmed as much this week, essentially characterizing the Ryder Cup as an overblown exhibition compared to the Grand Slam tournaments.

Said Nicklaus on Tuesday: "I mean, is it a nice event? It's a great event. Is it different? Absolutely it's different. Is it exciting? Absolutely it's exciting. But it's a goodwill event. It's for bragging rights.

"I think the U.S. Open or the Masters or British Open, it's a little bit more than bragging rights. It's an event that stands on the record book. You go back and tell me who won the Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup 10 years ago -- who was the star player? -- you couldn't even, not even close. You won't even know who sat out and who didn't sit out."

But we'll know that Perry sat out the Open, even if he makes the U.S. Ryder team, because decisions like these tend to stick to a player like a wet leather golf glove. Recall that U.S. veteran Woody Austin had qualified for a spot in the British Open at Carnoustie last year and elected not to play, for reasons similar to Perry's rationale. Austin nonetheless got torched.

"The double standard that we deal with out here, that would have been my eighth week in a row and I didn't find out until the last two days that I was in the (Carnoustie) field," Austin said after his round Saturday. "If you-know-who can take a month off and say, 'I cannot play the week before because I have to be prepared to play,' after eight weeks, and I have to fly 12 hours over, I get there it'll be Tuesday by the time I tee off, I didn't want to go over and make an absolute ass of myself shooting 80 and 80. I chose it because I was exhausted.

"Why should you lambaste a guy for what's been his No. 1 priority all year, which is to play in the Ryder Cup in his home state?"

Austin is 44, and like Perry, fatigue is an occasional issue. That said, while he defended Perry's decision to skip his shot at playing in the Open, he wouldn't do likewise himself.

"That's why it's called an open, it's his prerogative to give it a shot or not," Austin said. "Personally, myself, if I've got a chance to play, goddang, I'm going to play."

World No. 2 Phil Mickelson didn't find fault with Perry's reasoning, given the Ryder Cup site in Louisville this year.

"I actually really understand it," Lefty said, before throwing in a passing shot at the 2007 Open setup. "After last year's U.S. Open, I understand why a lot of guys would bypass it, for sure."

It isn't like Perry has had much luck at Opens in the past, regardless of the site. He finished third in 2003, his lone top-20 effort in 10 career tries, but intentionally sitting out the national championship is rare. Veteran Bruce Lietzke, who was surely an odd duck, used to routinely skip the U.S. Open, but he's a rarity.

Perry tried to give Torrey another chance in January, which marked only the third time he'd played the Buick Invitational since making the tour in 1987. In January, he shot 74-71 and technically finished in a tie for 67th, though he didn't play on the weekend in keeping with the cut rule on the books at that time. It marked his only rounds at Torrey since Rees Jones stretched the course to 7,600 yards before the 2002 Buick event.

Otherwise, Perry last played at Torrey in 1988, when he missed the cut, and in 1997, when he shot 74 and withdrew. Since the Buick is played on two courses at the facility, Perry has logged a maximum of three career rounds at the South Course, the one to be used as the Open. Hey, nobody likes spinach much as a kid, but that doesn't mean we give up on it forever.

If it works out, we might be painting him as a genius. Perry stands 17th on the Ryder Cup points list, up from 43rd five weeks ago. He has played on three Presidents Cup squads, made the Ryder roster in 2004 and has a combined record of 7-8-0 in international play.

But even if he was a Ryder rookie, this is his old Kentucky home we're talking about, he said, and he'll never have another chance like it.

"It means everything to me," he said.