The 3rd String Store

Its been a fun year to watch Kenny Perry play golf. Seven top ten finishes, a victory at the FBR Open, and nearly his first major championship at Augusta in April. But perhaps his most impressive showing came yesterday when he finished up a brilliant week of golf with a win at the Travelers Championship.

Coming into the day one shot back of Paul Goydos, Perry put together a confident seven under, 63 to win by three. The win shot Perry into first place on the FedEx cup leader board and a piece of Travelers Championship history. His winning week number, 258, was the lowest any player has ever shot in the history of the tournament.

Despite the fact that the Sunday sun did not rise with Perry leading, by the time CBS’s TV coverage began at 3pm it wasn’t difficult to see that Perry would be hard to beat. As it turned out, besting the 48 year old proved a nearly impossible task. He sank almost every putt he attempted, long and short, and birdied seven holes. Perry’s round was a perfect example of how to win a tournament like this. Putt well, make par, and let the field crumble around you.

No one really crumbled today. In fact, this is a rare week where I will not give out a choke of the week. A few players played good enough to win. But Perry was unreal. David Toms crept up the leader board and tied for second. He, like Perry, failed to bogey a hole. But he parred to many holes to make that final leap towards first, especially with Perry playing as well as he was. Tom birdied four of the final nine holes, but only one before the turn…not quite enough.

Paul Goydos had to play perfect to hold of Perry. He shot himself in the foot with a bogey on 8 and 10. An eagle of 15 moved him from ninth place into a tie for second, but catching Perry was pie in the sky by that point.

A lot of times in golf, the story is about who lost it, rather than who won. And why not? Generally, it’s easier to criticize then to praise. Theirs only so Manny “atta-boy’s” you can throw out, but seeming an unlimited amount of hypothetical scenarios for the losers. But the story today is no doubt Keny Perry’s day. Was it a Brian Gay-eske crushing? No. But was it a relative certainty that Perry was going to win for most of the day? Yes. He didn’t need a lot of help. He didn’t need anyone to wilt under pressure to win this tournament. Often times, you won’t get a big time collapse in a tournament like The Travelers in Hartford Connecticut. After all, it’s not the Masters.

But it might as well been for Kenny Perry.

Next stop on Tour: AT&T National- The defending champ in this one is Anthony Kim. He returns to defend his crown. Kim’s best finish this year came at the Mercedes-Benz championship when he tied for second. Other big names include U.S Open champion Lucas Glover, Davis Love III, Fred Couples, Jum Furyk, Roco Mediate, Paul Goydos… and the biggest draw in all the land, Tiger Wood.

It’s a Tiger week! Should be fun as we get set for the British 2 weeks from now.