BELLSOUTH CLASSIC

March 30, 2000

Kenny Perry

KENNY PERRY: Well, all and all I was real satisfied with the way I hit the ball today. Wasn't in any trouble all day. Drove the ball really well and that is the key to this golf course, you really got to drive it -- seem to drive it pretty long and I drove it long and straight and made a few putts. So I was never in really any danger out there to struggle on a hole except for one time on the-never seen it happen in my 14 years out there-it happened to me on the 5th hole. Hit a drive into the right fairway bunker. I hit a 9-iron that hit about eight feet in front of the hole. It spun back to the front of the green and it stopped. It stopped on the green so I threw my club to my caddie and I was walking down, I am feeling good, I have hit a good shot out of the fairway bunker as I am walking down there, the ball takes off and rolls into the hazard. I have never seen that, ever. Ended up making bogey. Other than that, my day was great all -- I never seen that ball come to rest and stop and five minutes later rolls off into the water. But that was interesting. Got off to a good start, birdied 2, 3 and 4. Then little mishap on 5, made bogey -- made a good bogey. So end up -- then I made a couple more bogeys, I bogeyed, let's see, bogeyed 7, 7 and 8 -- no, I parred 7. Bogeyed 8. End up shooting 1-under on the front nine. Then I shoot 4-under on the back. Pretty pleased.

KENNY PERRY: 252. Normally when it plays that distance they put us up on the up tee. Normally when the pin is middle to the middle back, they put us up on the -- I never played that distance before. We had helping winds. I hit 3-iron. Anybody who kind of hits a 2- or 3-iron, if it lands on the front of the green, it is going to trace back to the hole. It is not playing as far.

KENNY PERRY: The greens are very firm, but the ball was spinning -- it is a funny combination. I was talking to Grant Jobe in my group -- the ball seems to be taking a pretty good first hop, but yet it is still spinning a lot. Normally you see that ball take that big of a first skip, it will kind of set down. The balls are really running on those greens, really spinning back a lot of them -- the moisture this morning, maybe enough rain hit 'em to soften them up -- but I could tell the speed of the greens picked up probably six to eight inches, a foot. As I progressed through my round, the balls just -- the greens kept getting faster and faster and faster.

KENNY PERRY: Opened up with 70, pretty proud of that round in those heavy winds. But I stumbled the next day, I shoot 77. I ruined my good round, but I have been playing well. I played eight events this year; made eight cuts. I have been real steady finishing in that 20th to 25th range every week. I had one maybe 12th place finish at Tucson, I think. But I have been real consistent. I really like the way I am playing right now.

KENNY PERRY: No, I haven't. Last time I played Augusta was 1996, so I haven't been back. I haven't played well enough to get -- my last few years have not been very good years, so I haven't got back.

KENNY PERRY: Tiger Woods. (laughs).

KENNY PERRY: That is a tough question, because -- I always like Jose, I like guys who are such great -- that golf course is so much around the greens, so much chipping, putting, you got to have so much creativity and a lot of imagination, and got to have a lot of touch. The guys that seem to chip the ball and putt the ball the best, seem to always do well that week.

KENNY PERRY: Very much so.

KENNY PERRY: I haven't been back there since, yep, I am just waiting for the tournament to come back around and go back there and try it again.