Hot-lanta heat not the only thing making Perry sweat
ATLANTA -- Kenny Perry's week at the Tour Championship began with a bad case of the flop sweats, the shakes, feelings of nausea, not to mention weakness in his arms and legs.
After what he did Saturday, it might end similarly.
The ageless 49-year-old torched East Lake Golf Club with a 6-under 64 in the third round to take a two-shot lead over Tiger Woods, leaving himself in prime position for a nerve-jangling, stomach turning, $11.35 million payday on Sunday.
The thought of winning that mega-bonus down the stretch might elicit the same sort of clammy, light-headed, stressed-out symptoms that Perry was experiencing during his opening round, when he had a case of heat stroke while playing in the suffocating heat and humidity that has covered the region like a wet wool blanket.
"I was heat sick," Perry said. "I wanted to throw up on the first five holes. I was sweating -- y'all saw me yesterday, I sweated through my pants. It was terrible."
He went home Thursday night and ate three bananas, chugged down a few quarts of water laced with amino acids and swigged some sports drinks for good measure.
Finally, by Saturday, he was equal parts hydrated and high-rated.
He started the day in a tie for fifth, then birdied the first four holes and blew past players such as Woods, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els to take the lead as the biggest payday in the history of the PGA Tour approaches Sunday.
The winner of the tournament wins a tidy $1.35 million, something which Perry can obviously control. He'll need some help to win the FedEx Cup, however, after starting the week No. 9 in the points standings. He needs Woods to finish in a three-way tie for third or worse and for Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Zach Johnson to all finish third or worse. Of the latter trio, only Stricker is within six shots of the lead, so Woods is quite likely his biggest hurdle.
|
|
| Kenny Perry has a big payday lined up for himself and son/caddie Justin. (Getty Images) |
Few would have believed that a man 10 months shy of his 50th birthday, a player who had one finish inside the top 40 in the past three months, would be the one pressing Woods for golf's biggest payday.
If you think it's going to be a pressure cooker for Perry, consider his son, Justin, who has been caddying for his old man for the past three weeks. Father and son have agreed that Justin, 23, will get the traditional 10 percent of his dad's winnings if Kenny takes first prize.
"That would be a nice down payment on a house," Sandy Perry, Kenny's wife, said.
Actually, depending on where he buys the house, you can get a three-car garage and a swimming pool in some parts of the country for that kind of coin.
"We're not thinking about that yet," Justin said warily.
Oh, really? His younger sister, Lindsey, was standing nearby as Justin's potential $135,000 payday was broached and good-naturedly grumbled, "That is just so unfair."
It gets better. Wait until Justin finds out that if dad wins the $10 million FedEx bonus, he's getting 10 percent of that pot, too. This might be the greatest summer job of all time.
"Yeah, I think he deserves it," Kenny said.
Speaking for his son: Gulp.
None of the Perry clan saw Kenny's hot streak coming. In his past four starts, he finished T43, T52, T46 and T45. But Perry has long been one of the streakiest players on tour, often reeling off months-long runs with multiple wins. His best sustained stretch this year came early, when he won in Phoenix and lost the Masters in a heart-breaking playoff.
| Tour Championship video |
| Tour Champsionship links |
|
Round 3: Perry takes lead from Woods |
"You never know with golf, you get a few bad kicks, a few putts don't go in, and you lose some confidence," Justin said. "It's hard to play good every week. Like Tiger does."
The younger Perry laughed after uttering the latter, unaware at the time that his dad would be paired with the world No. 1 in the final-round cauldron at East Lake, where Woods won in 2007 and has thrice finished second.
Perry said his uptick this week probably relates more to course familiarity than anything. Two of the first three FedEx series events were either held at a new venue and one that had undergone a significant redesign. All that hard-earned savvy went for naught.
"It just seems like to me I play good at courses I understand, I've played a lot, I have experience at," Perry said. "My 23 years out here, it just seems I can put it to work. I've got a lot of information on this golf course."
Even in an age with players such as Vijay Singh, who won the PGA Tour money title last year at age 45, Perry is something of a freak. He's still pounding it off the tee and ranks fourth in total driving -- a combination of distance and accuracy -- and when he's putting well, can contend almost anywhere.
Earlier this year, when they were paired in a skins game at the Memorial Tournament along with host Jack Nicklaus, Woods watched Perry send one into the stratosphere and gushed aloud to nobody in particular, "Man, K.P. just bombs it."
Asked about the amazing longevity of his final-round pairings partner, Woods cracked, "It must be Kenny's workout routine."
About the only iron Perry lifts in his time off is a socket wrench or screwdriver as he tinkers with one of his race cars. His wife occasionally hears fans making comments about her husband's slight paunch in the gallery.
"It makes me so mad when I hear them say, 'Look at that beer belly,'" she said. "No, that's a French-fry belly."
It has already been a mind-melting week for Perry, and we're not talking about the lightheadedness he experienced when he had his first-round heat stroke. Tuesday in Atlanta, he was given a prestigious humanitarian award named after the late Payne Stewart, one of his former peers. Among his many good deeds, Perry built a public golf course in his hometown and has always donated a percentage of his winnings to a Christian school. Past winners include a Hall of Fame fellowship that includes names such as Palmer, Player, Nicklaus, Watson and Nelson.
"That was so humbling," Perry said. "I was flattered, I was shocked. I looked at the list of all those men who have received it before me, and I felt uncomfortable. I felt like I didn't belong."
The almost-50-year-old clearly belongs among the game's elite players. He has two career wins with Woods in the field, though this will be their first eyeball-to-eyeball mixer in the final group. Perry, who has seen and experienced it all in his tour tenure, was hardly dreading it.
"I look forward to it," he said. "I'm going to jab him a little bit tomorrow. I want to be his partner in the Presidents Cup here in the next couple weeks.
"I'm kind of scrapbooking, guys. I've got memories going right now. I would love to play one match with him somehow if Freddie [Couples] would let me do it. I'm putting a plug in early -- y'all get that in the papers so he can read it."
If Perry wins the bazillion-buck bonus Sunday, Woods might be lobbying to play with him.
