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JOHN DEERE CLASSICJuly 12, 2007Kenny PerrySILVIS, ILLINOIS STEWART MOORE: We'd like to welcome Kenny Perry to the interview room here at the John Deere Classic. Great opening round 65 today. You go out with a high start, 31, 34 coming in. Was this one of those classic Kenny Perry rounds that could have been really low? KENNY PERRY: Well, I really don't think I could have shot much better, to tell you the truth. It was a great round. I hit one poor drive on 15 against a tree and had to chip out sideways and made bogey there, and I hit a poor putt on the par 3, 12th. Other than that -- that was a three-putt. Other than that, I was flawless. I mean, I hit every fairway that I could think of. I probably missed two fairways today. I made a lot of putts from that 8- to 10-, 12-, 15-foot range where you can make them, and poured them in from all over the place. I made eight birdies. I was hoping this round was going to kind of carry over from the Buick. I was hoping last week taking off wasn't going to hurt me, and it's nice to get off to a good start. So it was fun out there. STEWART MOORE: Is it nice to finish a round before the wind starts kicking up out there? I'm sure you played the last nine in some wind but it's going to pick up more. KENNY PERRY: Exactly. My caddie said it's going to get really windy this afternoon. Out here it's important to shoot -- when you have that early tee time, that's a crucial round that you need to shoot a good round because it seems like the greens are a little more receptive. There's not as much traffic on the greens, and it just helps you get through the week if you can get that morning round, either Thursday or Friday, whichever day you get it, to get off to a good start. Q. I talked to you before the Buick about being in your 40s and playing against these kids, and you said you were just enjoying it. KENNY PERRY: Definitely. Q. You're swinging free. I mean, you just feel free. Do you feel like you've got kind of a -- KENNY PERRY: I definitely think I have an edge over those kids in experience, and I'm not nearly -- I don't know what the word is you'd say, they may be a little hungrier than I am, I guess to put it that way, that they may have the desire and the want more than I have. I guess I'm a little more carefree, a little more relaxed and just kind of enjoying the scenery as I go and not trying to put too much pressure on myself anymore. And it seems to be working. I've really played beautifully the last four tournaments I've played in. Golf is getting fun again and I'm driving it better. I went to that belly putter four weeks ago, and I've putted beautifully with that belly putter the last four weeks. You know, I'm making lots of birdies. I shot two 63s, one at Memorial and one at the Buick, and then I made eight birdies today. So that's been a huge change in my game to switch to the belly putter. Q. Is that the first time you've used that? KENNY PERRY: I've used it the last four weeks. Q. But this is the first time you've gone to it? KENNY PERRY: In my career, yeah. Well, I kind of experimented at LA this year early in the year, but the putter didn't really fit me. And then when I settled down and got a putter that actually fit me, I felt very comfortable with it, and immediately I started rolling great putts and my speed was good. It's really been fun from six feet and in with this thing. I've always had a little loop in my other stroke with the little putter. I'd always kind of take it a little inside and kind of come over the top a little bit, and I would pull -- left-to-right putts I was good because I'd kind of pull it up the hill and keep it on line, but right-to-left I'd always miss low a lot of times, where this thing I probably only pulled two putts in four weeks. It just will not allow me to do that the way it's swinging with the arc. Q. Were you resistant to try that up until now? KENNY PERRY: Not really. You know what, you've got to search and try to get better. You know, the putting my whole career has always held me back. I've always been a pretty good ball striker from tree to green each and every year, and that really has not put a lot of pressure on me; it's always been my flat stick. It may continue to work, it may go away, I don't know. But right now it's been a lot of fun. Q. The putter you put in your bag in Detroit, is that -- KENNY PERRY: The same one, same putter. Q. But that was not -- KENNY PERRY: It's not the original belly putter. I took a Rossi, like I had a little one, and then all I did was extend it to a belly putter and I used it at the Memorial. It felt too soft for me with the insert and all trying to swing -- all that inertia, it didn't feel right, so I went to the new Inza from Taylor Made. It's a little bigger, a little more face-balanced, and it's got the harder insert. Immediately the ball came off -- I could feel the impact a little bit better and it gave me a lot more distance control it seemed like. I putted beautifully at the Buick, and I'm off and running this week, so hopefully it'll continue. Q. Did you put that in the first round or after? KENNY PERRY: I put it in the second round, shot 63. First round with it, shot 63. First putt of the -- I had -- on 10 that Friday I had about a 20-footer with about four-and-a-half foot of break, and I poured it right in there. I said, uh-oh, this could be exciting. Q. Friday when you were on the practice green fiddling is when you -- KENNY PERRY: Remember we were sitting there talking and I had about four of them, and that's the one I selected. I guess I chose correctly. STEWART MOORE: Kenny, best of luck this week. Appreciate it. End of FastScripts |
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