In the immortal words of Tiger Woods, “second sucks.” Maybe so, but you’d never know it by the outpouring of support that has come Kenny Perry’s way in the wake of his heartbreaking runner-up finish at the Masters. “I touched a lot of hearts in defeat. That made me feel better,” said Perry yesterday.
No, Kenny Perry is not a loser. He made it to the arena and hung in there till the end. And then, when faced with his sternest test of all, he handled the post tournament grilling with dignity and class. That spells winner in my book.
If he hadn’t before, Perry has now paid his major championship dues. He’s lost two playoffs for majors, so now the golf gods owe him one. But that doesn’t mean they’ll even the score, for the history books are filled with people like Doug Sanders (4 seconds) and Colin Montgomerie (5 seconds) who surely deserved a big four title, but ended with zero.
Indeed, this cruel game doesn’t work that way. So Perry’s going to have to work his way back into contention and give himself a chance to win again – with no guarantees that he will. But if he does, maybe the golf gods will shine on him, or perhaps he’ll grab the tournament by the throat and say this one’s mine!
At the beginning of the 2008 Perry set a goal of making the Ryder Cup team, then went out and won three tournaments, playing his way on to the victorious US squad. At the start of ’09 he set a goal of winning a major, and darned if he almost didn’t in the first one of the year.
When the emotionality subsides the analysts will come to understand that Perry’s biggest mistake was not blowing his lead at the 2009 Masters, but in not setting the goal of winning majors a long time ago. If he had three or four under his belt going into this year’s edition, he’d likely have won the 2009 Masters in style, and become its oldest winner.
Whatever, Perry, with two playoff losses in the majors, has made his mark in major championship golf far more so than those who never even gave themselves a chance.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 MikeZ // Apr 22, 2009 at 10:54 am
A nice post about a very nice man. Here in Milwaukee we’re grateful to Mr. Perry for honoring his previous commitment to play in the U.S. Bank Championship (formerly the Greater Milwaukee Open) last year even after he qualified for the British Open. The two tournaments are now held the same week. Even local favorites Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly pulled out of the Milwaukee tournament after qualifying for The Open Championship!
Yes, Perry was criticized by some for forgoing a shot at a major title to honor his commitment to play in Milwaukee; and yes, others accused him of trying to “pad” his Ryder Cup points in Milwaukee (which I think he acknowledged was a factor; the competition was, after all, being held in his home state of Kentucky!). But I think he would have played in Milwaukee anyway. Because, as was pointed out in a nice post-Masters SI article, “A promise is a promise.”
2 The Armchair Golfer // Apr 23, 2009 at 5:48 am
It’s refreshing to see in this day and age that a player who doesn’t win but rather does things such as keeps his promise and behaves with dignity and gratitude can attract a lot of fans. How Kenny has carried himself the last season and a half has as much to do with his popularity as does his fine play.
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