BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 19, 2002

Kenny Perry

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Let's go through your card.

KENNY PERRY: I started on 10.

12 is a par-3. I hit a 6-iron, it was 200 yards away. I hit it about 12 feet and made that.

13, I hit a 3-wood and 8-iron about 15 feet and made that.

Par-5, I hit a driver, 5-iron and a sand wedge to about four feet and made that.

Then I hit a pitching wedge on the next hole about 5 feet left of the hole and made that.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: 18.

KENNY PERRY: I hit a driver and 3-iron on the green and 2-putted for birdie.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: No. 1.

KENNY PERRY: Driver, pitching wedge to about three feet left of the hole for birdie.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: 4.

KENNY PERRY: 4, I hit a 2-iron and a pitching wedge about 12 feet, made that.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: 6.

KENNY PERRY: I hit driver, 3-wood on the green, and 2-putted for birdie.

7, I hit 3-wood, 7-iron about four feet, made it for birdie.

8, I hit a 3-wood and sand wedge about three feet and made that for birdie. And that was it. That was a lot of them.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you for joining us. Make a couple of comments on that great round of 62, and then we'll go into some questions.

KENNY PERRY: It's been an interesting week, I tell you. I thought it might be my week. The first day at Indian Wells I hit three balls out-of-bounds that didn't go out-of-bounds. They hit houses or trees or something and came in on 8, 9 and 10. And I kind of scrambled around with 69. I played lousy, was really out of it.

Then I hurt my hip after the second round. I shoot 64 at Tamarisk and played great. And I hurt my hip. And I was going to withdraw from the tournament. I couldn't get my right foot on the ground. I went to Healthsouth and the guys worked on me pretty hard. They worked on me a lot this morning. I limped around all day yesterday. I played golf one-legged all day at Bermuda Dunes yesterday, that was hard. My hip was hurting bad, and I was hitting a lot of irons and kind of getting it around.

And then I felt great today and hit a lot of terrific shots. And it just fell into place. I got into a good rhythm out there. And I started thinking I was going to birdie every hole. And it was just -- it's been a crazy week.

It seems like it's destiny almost for me. I've had a lot of magical things happen this week. And I have not played really that well until today. Still a shoot-out, a long way to go. It's going to probably take 31 -, 32-under to win the golf tournament, maybe 30-under. So it's still going to take a good round of golf to win. But at least I got it in position.

Q. What precisely is the problem with the hip and how close did you come to withdrawing?

KENNY PERRY: It was a -- they called it a hip flexor muscle, whatever, it was spasming. And it was so tight that I guess it must have raised my leg up. And it pointed my right foot out to the right. I couldn't straighten my foot out.

And I told my caddy, I said, "Well, we'll try it." I had the officials out there. They worked on me that morning at Bermuda Dunes, Rob did it. And he was there at the golf course, thank goodness, and he stretched me.

And I just went out and tried to hit a few balls. And I just kind of went out there and gutted it out. I knew it was going to hurt on every swing. I knew I was flinching. And I was just going to try. I mean I talked to Mike Shea and I told him "Get ready, if I have to withdraw, they've already called somebody to take my spot."

But I was able to manage the golf course. Normally I can get to a lot of those par-5s out there. But I was hitting irons and laying up and wedging it on. I was playing golf from where I'm not used to playing from. And I ended up shooting a pretty good round of golf.

Bermuda dues is tough to me, and I shot 4-under and I was tickled with that round.

Q. Does the hip hurt on backswing, on impact?

KENNY PERRY: On the follow through. I couldn't turn to the left. So I was having to almost pick my foot up and do the Gary Player move. He hits it and takes off walking, that's what I was trying to do.

Q. When you won this tournament in '95 you finished 25-under.

KENNY PERRY: That's what I told my caddy. I said I'm at my score I won with in '95. I don't think that's going to stand up this year.

Q. Is the scoring, the conditions better or just the player mindset?

KENNY PERRY: I tell you what, the weather was flawless today. We didn't have any winds. And the golf course is in such great shape and the greens are so perfect, I think that's what -- it's just a putting contest. And with no wind, the golf courses are defenseless.

I felt like the greens at Indian Wells and Tamarisk were harder than Bermuda Dunes and here. They were very receptive here. Whereas at Tamarisk I was landing it 6, 8 yards, 10 yards short of the flag and having it skip up into the hole. That's how much firmer those greens were.

Q. (Inaudible.)

KENNY PERRY: It did not bother me at all today. They worked on me for about an hour this morning, and they gave me -- I've also got a herniated disk, L-4 herniated disk that happened four years ago. And they think that's probably why I've had this problem. My right leg, my thigh has been numb for two years. I don't have any feeling in my right leg.

But they kind of -- so they worked on my back, too. And I think that's what helped me. It kind of got my hip straight and worked on my lower back and heated it. They're good, I tell you what, it's nice to have those people around. I probably couldn't have played the way I did today, painfree, if I hadn't had those guys.

Q. You say it's going to take 31, 32. You're going to be in the last group, obviously. But in this case we can't look at those two guys, because anybody can shoot the score here, right?

KENNY PERRY: Yeah. I don't know how many guys are at 24, I think three or four guys at 24 and 23. It's going to -- it could come from anybody tomorrow. It's going to be quite a show tomorrow. I think there's going to be a lot of birdies and a lot of excitement.

Q. Is this year just a continuation of your good play from last year and what got you going last year, just refocusing on golf? You got back to playing the kind of golf you used to play?

KENNY PERRY: Well, I contributed it to a lot of things. My kids and family are pretty happy at home, they're pretty content. I've got a 17 -, 16-, and 13-year-old. My oldest, we're looking at colleges, so that's exciting for next year.

It seemed like I felt more pressure when my kids were younger, and they were tugging at me to come home. They've got their own deal now, you go out there, we've got things we need to do. Everything is good at home, it's a good mix now. It frees up my mind and I'm able to relax and come out and compete.

My golf course is doing real well. We've got it paid off. It was a ten-year project. So I'm not stressed out like I used to be. And I'm so much more relaxed in my life and just in playing, I'm having more fun on the golf course, and it's showing in my play.

If I play great, that's a bonus. If I don't, I'm not too worried about it. I'm going to enjoy my last few years. I'm 41, I've been out here 16 years, and I'm just going to enjoy these next few years. I don't see myself playing too many more years out here. So I'm going to relax, have fun and see what happens.

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