|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDEJune 5, 2015Kenny PerryDUBLIN, OHIO Q. What were your emotions out there today? KENNY PERRY: Just joy. I mean, I didn't really get sad. I'm not really‑‑ I had a lot of‑‑ as I told Todd, I had a lot of flashbacks today. I reminisced a lot, I guess you'd say. Thinking back, this is my 25th Memorial. So this was my silver anniversary, I guess you'd say. And just had a lot of‑‑ I didn't have any sad emotions. I just had a lot of good feeling emotions. And that tells me I'm ready to step away. I've played with all these kids. It's been awesome. Last week I played with Justin Thomas and Harris English and Brooks Koepka, and those kids are hitting it so far, it's mind boggling to me. The Tour has really gotten young. I had my time. I had 30 years out here on the Tour. What little time I have left competitively, I want to focus in on the Champions Tour. I'm very happy out there, very content. I like staying home on Mondays and Tuesdays. I baby‑sit the grandkids on Tuesday and then fly out on Wednesday, and then I'll have a Pro Am on Thursday and then three days on the Champions Tour. Life is a lot more laid back. To me it's a very competitive Tour, but it's a very social Tour. We all get together. We have a lot of laughs. We have a lot of good times. And those are men I kind of looked up to my whole career who made me who I am, who I wanted to beat and be like. I feel very comfortable out there. I come out here with these kids, my youngest daughter is 27, she's got a child. And those kids I played with are 21 to 25 years old. So I'm sure they're tired at looking at an old man with a funny golf swing. It's time for me to get out of here. Q. How much did you want to make the cut? And do you know where exactly you stand right now? KENNY PERRY: I think I'm probably going to miss by one. I shot even. I think the cut was probably going to be 1‑under. That would have been nice, but it doesn't deter from my week. All I wanted to do was come here and say thanks to Jack. I wanted to come up and shake his hand, sit and talk to him a little bit in there. That's been awesome. He's been a big inspiration to me in my life and my career, him and Barbara. He was the two‑time Presidents Cup captain for me. Just spent a lot of time with him. When I got out on Tour in '86, he was still playing a little bit competitively so I got to play some with him, some practice rounds and stuff. And that was always exciting for me. So for me to kind of end it here is perfect, to get my first win here in '91 and then to kind of end it here I thought would be a special place and a good way to do it. Q. Besides playing with the grandkids, what's on the agenda? KENNY PERRY: Rest, relaxation, go to the lake house, do whatever. I'm tired of getting drug tested. I'm tired of getting up early and just want to kindof ‑‑ the Champions Tour, the earliest tee time is usually around 10:00. That's nice. You sleep in. More relaxed. Yeah, I just want to sail away off into the sunset, that's kind of what I'm after. Q. Ryan Moore gets to kind of experience what you experienced at Valhalla about being the local face at the U.S. Open in a couple of weeks. What are the perks and pitfalls of being kind of the local guy in a big event like a major? KENNY PERRY: Well, it's tough. For one thing, it's trying to deal with ticket requests, media. There's going to be a lot on his plate. There's going to be‑‑ he needs to figure out a way to get "me" time, his time, to where he can focus in and prepare for the golf course, prepare for the tournament. A lot of times you get distracted. But these guys are pros, they know how to handle it. They know what to do. And it's funny, it all depends on how well you're playing, too. If you're playing very well, you can probably not prepare as well and go in and be very successful. Q. When you cashed in the exemption this year, was the plan always to make this your final stop? KENNY PERRY: Yes, when I looked at my schedule, yeah, definitely. I'm going to play the U.S. Senior Players next week in Boston and the Senior Open, I think I've got a week off and out in Sacramento. So our major schedule is kind of firing up on the Champions Tour, so I kind of want to go back that direction.  I thought about playing Memphis, since it's so close to home. But I kind of want to go up and support the old guys a little bit. Q. Have you ever in the last, not just today, but in the last years looked back, in say the last five or six years of your career, to go back to see what it took for you to just get out here? I can't imagine you see yourself standing here today with all you've accomplished when you were 22 years old? KENNY PERRY: Yeah, that's correct. When I got my card, I was 26 years old. I had a wife and two kids at the time. And I always told my dad if I could win just one time, I have made it. To be able to survive 30 years out here, competitively and not lose my card, I'm very proud of that. But I always told her, I'm a slow learner. Even in school and whatever, I struggled. And it just seemed, when I turned 40, I won 11 times in my 40s. I won five times at 48 and 49 years old. I was still winning out here on the PGA Tour. Almost won the Masters. I had some great moments really late in my career. It just seemed like it was always hard for me to get from family to my career, with three young kids and trying to split up the time and be a good dad and be a good husband, and take care of that side of the family and still be competitive out on the Tour is tough. You see a lot of kids out here that have young families, and they struggle a little bit at times. I look at Sean O'Hair, he's got four young kids and he's got the talent. It's unreal. I play a lot with Sean, I know if he's struggling with his being a father, and that's hard, when kids are calling you and crying saying, dad, come home, that's tough. Q. What do you consider the highlight of your career? KENNY PERRY: You know, there were a lot of highlights. I'll never forget my rookie year. I hit a 4‑iron there at Vegas on the last hole to within a foot of the hole to tap it in for eagle. I remember Lee Trevino was announcing at the time, and that gave me enough money to solidify my card my rookie year. And that was the year, it was like‑‑ that was more in the springtime; Vegas was early in the year. And it was a lot of money for me. That one shot, I'll never forget, I still feel it to this day, that 4‑iron I hit over 205 or 210 or whatever up there to within a foot of the hole. Magical shots, you know. The win here, I'll never forget playing Hale Irwin in that playoff, I was so nervous here in '91. And he kind of threw a couple little zingers at me on the tee box and it was pretty interesting. And he's kind of old school. That generation, they love to kind of mess with you a little bit. And it was interesting. I piped it right down the middle and he hit it in the trees right off the tee. And I thought he's one of the straightest drivers ever in the world. It was funny, the roles reversed right there. Q. Do you remember what he said? KENNY PERRY: Yeah, I don't want to repeat it (laughter). I really love that guy. We played practice rounds together out there on the Champions Tour. He's 70 years old and still he shoots better than his age all the time. I call him the freak show out there. He's an amazing man. Q. You mentioned the 4‑iron and the tap‑in at Vegas. But what is it about that moment that you recall Trevino announcing? KENNY PERRY: Well, I've got it on tape. I've just watched it. Q. You've listened to it a lot? KENNY PERRY: Yeah, exactly. We recorded it and those are just some of the things in my life that really stand out that told me what I was doing in life was correct, the things I was doing. Q. Do you remember what you made that week with that shot? KENNY PERRY: It wasn't a lot. It was probably 50‑some‑thousand, I would say, maybe 80, somewhere around in there. But I knew‑‑ it only took about $100,000 back then to keep your card. So it put me over the mark and I knew I was golden for the rest of the year. Q. What about the Ryder Cup, would that also be‑‑ KENNY PERRY: That would probably be‑‑ now that you mention it, that was probably the highlight of my career, only because it was with my dad. And I played great. It was in Kentucky at Valhalla. It was home. And then to have my dad‑‑ my dad, he survived the Battle of the Bulge. And he told me great stories of just living. His buddy stepping on mines and the biggest part he found was their hand or something. These men were incredible men. And for him‑‑ I'll never forget it, he was wearing his bib overalls. Once he quit selling insurance, he says, I'm never wearing a suit again. So he put his bib overalls on, and he's got his hands in the air, and he's saying we're going to get them boys. And the crowd, it's like the parting of the waves at the Ryder Cup Valhalla. Everyone knew‑‑ it's Mr. Perry, it's Mr. Perry. And the crowd would just open up and there was my dad just walking right through, like he was General Patton or something (laughter). It was incredible. Q. (Inaudible.) KENNY PERRY: You know, I'm not sure. I should know that, but I've got his uniform. I've got it mounted at my house. He's got bronze stars and all that good stuff. And then for him to come, after I beat Henrik Stenson on the singles on Sunday, and for him to walk on that green and give me a hug. He gave me a hug and said, it's one of the greatest presents you could give a father. So that was a pretty special moment for a father/son. Q. Not to throw cold water on this, but obviously you talk about the PGA at Valhalla and then you mentioned the Masters. I'm assuming one of those was your biggest disappointment? KENNY PERRY: Both. The PGA was the biggest, being in front of my home fans and at home. It took me probably two or three years to get over that loss. It really stewed in me, burned inside. I never could get it out of my head. All I had to do was par a hole that I can hit driver, 4‑iron on the green. If I make par, I win the tournament by 2. Instead I make bogey and had to go in a playoff with Brooks. And I just hacked it up. I never could get out of the rough. I don't know if I finished the hole. And then the Masters, that was a big disappointment. But it didn't take me much longer, I won Hartford not too long after that. I got right back on the horse. Yeah, Valhalla was probably my biggest disappointment. Q. (Inaudible.) KENNY PERRY: That just told me I made it, that I can do it, you know. My dad always said, until you believe in yourself, you're never going to make it out here. He says, you're good enough to win out there, but until you believe it‑‑ and that finally stuck. When I won Memorial, I knew I was going to make it. Q. If you had won Valhalla, would that have changed anything? KENNY PERRY: Great question. It would have given me 15 wins with a major, same as Fred Couples. I would have gotten in the Hall of Fame. Would it have changed anything? No, I don't think it would have changed anything. I'm very grounded. I've got a simple life. It wouldn't have changed me much. Maybe the demand on my time and that might have changed a lot. I might have looked at that differently. In my career I've always been the kind of guy that flew under the radar a little bit, not too many people ever recognized me. I could pretty much go anywhere. I could kind of live a normal life and not be a so‑called golf superstar or whatever. So poor Jordan Spieth, I know he's worn out right now, the demands on his time. You look at a Tiger Woods‑‑ I don't want to live in that bubble. It was perfect. I had a nice career. My kids are going to be well off for it. Q. Would it be fair to say that during your career your strength was you were a good driver of the ball? KENNY PERRY: That's it. I was always a great driver of the ball, decent iron player. And whenever the putter got hot, I had streaky weeks where I would go fairly low and had a chance to win golf tournaments. Q. Of course because of your strengths, that's probably what made you competitive later in your career because you didn't lose your strength? KENNY PERRY: Yeah, I'm fortunate. I still hit it plenty far enough to be competitive. I proved it, I hit it as far as Stewart Cink and Billy Horschel, both, for two days. They never outdrove me. You could throw a blanket over our drives on every hole. That was never it. To me it's more about the motivation and drive, the work ethics, the want to continue to grind it out out here. No thank you. Q. Can you explain? Is that why you had that resurgence in your 40s? KENNY PERRY: Well, that was because I think my kids were all grown and moving on and doing well in school and they were in college and getting married. I had the ability to rededicate. We were empty nesters. I was able to focus in on my golf and get after it. Q. Jack kind of talked about this the other day. Saying that, knowing that, you would have maybe focused more during some other periods, you may have had more? KENNY PERRY: That's possible, but I wouldn't change a thing. I'm not going to sacrifice my children for the Hall of Fame. For me, my family was the No.1 thing in my life. If I needed to take some weeks off and spend time at home with the family that's what I was going to do. Q. Without you out here, who are we going to point to as an example you don't have to pound the gym every day? KENNY PERRY: You know, the kids are really fit. I've always told them you can only pull muscle, you can't pull fat (laughter). I've been very blessed, I've been pretty healthy. I've still got my flexibility and haven't had too many problems. I've been very fortunate. A lot of that is genetics, too. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|