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BUICK OPEN

June 25, 2008

Kenny Perry

GRAND BLANC, MICHIGAN

STEWART MOORE: We would like to welcome Kenny Perry to the interview room here at the Buick Open. After what's been a pretty successful couple of months for you on TOUR, obviously coming into this week you have to feel good about things being a past champion here. Going back to Memphis and people asking about your decision to skip the U.S. Open this year, one of the things you mentioned was your love for this tournament and golf course, as well as Travelers last week and getting your game ready for this week this particular. Would you like to talk about that a little bit.
KENNY PERRY: Well, it's been well documented; my only goal this year was to make The Ryder Cup team. So how I based my schedule this year was on tournaments I felt like I could acquire the most points of trying to make the team at Valhalla.
All of you know, I'm from Kentucky; lost the '96 PGA Championship there in a playoff to Mark Brooks, and I want to go back there and I want to represent my country, and I want to do it in front of my home folks in the State of Kentucky.
So you know, my whole schedule, I put together and committed to all of these tournaments early in February, January, whenever I was looking at my schedule, so I based my schedule -- and at the time, you know, when you're committing to 15, 20 events, and you're 100th in the world in World Rankings and not in any major and not in anything.
You know, everybody criticized me a little bit for not playing in the U.S. Open; well, I wasn't in the U.S. Open. I had to go to a Monday qualifier the day after I won the Memorial if I wanted to qualify for the U.S. Open, so that wasn't going to happen. I felt that was my seventh week in a row and home for two nights in seven weeks, went home for the U.S. Open, recharged myself. I've always played well at the Travelers. I won here in 2001 and I love Warwick Hills. So you know, that's kind of how I approached the year.
Next year it will be different. I'll probably play all the majors next year. I'm trying to get in the Top-30 FedEx, Top-30 World Rankings and that way I won't have to worry about a qualifier because I'm not going to do a 36-hole qualifier.

Q. (Your thoughts on the course this year)?
KENNY PERRY: Driver's dream. Played a practice round yesterday and it's in great shape. The rough is the worst I've ever seen it, and must have had quite a bit of rain up here. The greens are always pure, you know, it's a putter's golf course and I don't usually consider myself great putter.
But the year I won here I shot 26- or 27-under and it all just kind of fell together for me. My game is great and I'm playing good and you know what, I just feel very comfortable on this golf course.

Q. With the way you have been playing, nothing is going to be firm until the team comes out and your name is on there, but do you feel comfortable or has anything changed playing so well last month or so?
KENNY PERRY: Well, nothing's changed. My focus and goal is still the same. I don't want to -- I'm in pretty good shape right now, you know, being sixth in points but I don't want to take it easy, either. I want to kind of keep that competitive edge and fire I've had in me this whole year.
I don't want to take it for granted and I don't want to be a pick by Paul Azinger. I don't want him to have to pick me. I want to make the team on my own. I come in each week and put the same amount of pressure on myself and it's been working so far. I've been playing great, so hopefully I can continue with what I've done the past eight weeks and hopefully it will fall into place again this week.

Q. (Can you compare your success in 2005 and then having knee surgery coming back in 2006)?
KENNY PERRY: Very similar -- 2005 and this year are very similar. I'm a streaky player and when I get hot, I get hot. I was fortunate, even in 2003 when I won three times, it's more like 2003 than 2005. 2005 I won Bay Hill and then a few months later I won Colonial.
But in 2003 I won Colonial and Memorial back-to-back and then I won Milwaukee and this reminds me of that to where I feel like I have an opportunity to win each and every week I'm out there.
And then my knee surgery, I had a torn MCL and meniscus in my right knee, and I had it done the week of Bay Hill. I couldn't defend in 2006. I won in 2005. I got back and my first tournament back was to try to defend at the Colonial, and came back too early. I tried to get back too fast. Thought I was ready but probably needed another month, month and a half of rehab. Chose not to do it. Tried to work my way through it and in turn it put me in a tailspin to where I got into some serious bad habits, and I have just now gotten out of them.
My knee was hurt to where I would kind of hang back, I couldn't get my right leg, for whatever reason, it forgot how to move at the golf ball and I would just kind of flip my hands, because I would be hanging so far back, and in turn, I hit a pull-hook, it would start left, and hook. My normal shot is a draw but would always start out right and hook.
You know, I couldn't get out of it. I got into some serious swing habits. Now my leg is strong and it just took me a couple years to battle my way back out of it, and everything is good to go now.

Q. You mentioned coming into the year roughly 100th in the World Ranking. Did you envision having this type of year where now you're in a pretty good Ryder Cup position and well up there and the Money List and everything else?
KENNY PERRY: Well, I didn't envision anything to tell you the truth. What I wanted to do was to put myself out there in enough positions and in enough tournaments, lay it all out on the line, and that's all I wanted to do. If I didn't make the team, I could live with that. I didn't want to put a half-hearted effort at it.
You know, I knew I could be a Top-30 player in the world. I've always felt I was good enough to be in that position. I've gotten there; in the mid 2000s, I was there. My age, I turn 48 next month, so I don't know if at my age, was my career over; I had a lot of doubt and a lot of questions.
I didn't really put that pressure of making it back in my head. I just wanted to give it my best shot; that's all I wanted, and however the cards fell, I could live with that.
And you know what, I just put more time into it. I've just worked harder this year, practiced harder, just, you know, dedicated myself back to the game of golf. And my experience is showing up now being a veteran out here, and you know, it's just all come my way this year.

Q. (About Tiger's victory at the U.S. Open.)
KENNY PERRY: Very much so. He beat everybody on leg. They said the right knee would be harder -- if it was the right knee, it would be harder for him.
Well, I kind of disagree. It looked it to me like he puts more pressure on his left knee than his right the way he snaps across it. He had to be in a lot of pain on each golf swing, and pretty incredible feat what he did.

Q. It's pretty rare for an athlete in my sport to do what you've done and just say from the outset, this is my goal and it's an international competition, what went into that for you, maybe if there's even more than it just being in your home state, but tell people what it means to you.
KENNY PERRY: Well to be honest, that was it, being in my home state. That's what motivated me. If The Ryder Cup would have been anywhere else, I probably wouldn't have been this focused.
But it is, it's always a pleasure; I've played on three Presidents Cup teams. I've had Arnold and Jack as my captains and my one Ryder Cup Team was Hal Sutton. Those are great experiences. It's great to get in the team rooms at night, hang out with your 11 partners, teammates, the wives, all your wives get close. It just a fun week and fun atmosphere and it's fun to be part of a team sport when your whole life, you always play for yourself and it's an individual sport and it's nice to play in team competition. It's just different.
But for me, it was representing my country in front of my home fans in my home state. That's been on my mind from day one; when January 1 hit here, that's all I could ever think about. So that's what pushed me.

Q. What do you remember about Oakland Hills?
KENNY PERRY: That's where we played The Ryder Cup where we got beat so bad. I try not to remember too much about it but I heard last year they had a British Open qualifier and someone told me they had added 11 or 12 new tee boxes and made it a lot longer.
What I remember from at Ryder Cup, a lot of those fairways were hard to hit to begin with, they had a lot of humps and hills where the ball would roll off and now they said it's just very difficult. Like the 17th green is a par 3 and it was probably 190 yards and now it's 223 into a green that's got a couple elephants buried in it. You know, it's going to be a very demanding test.
It will probably be another score, even par probably wins the golf tournament. Tough golf course. I mean, all our majors are tough, and that's why I admire all the guys who win majors, because they are always top of the class and always set on edge. You're penalized for your marginal shots than most on a regular TOUR event.
And you know what, you're all remembered; the guys you remember most are the guys who win the majors. So I guess we all put a little about the of extra pressure on ourselves when it comes to majors.

Q. What will it be like not having Tiger in the field for a major?
KENNY PERRY: Definitely disappointing. We all want him in there, at least I do. I want him in there when I win a tournament, because I know I've beaten the best in the world.
Probably won't have the same hoopla and feeling when we get there. I'm sure you'll see a lot of new storylines emerge during tournament week that will pump the tournament up, but definitely won't be as exciting or have the energy than if Tiger was going to be in the field.

Q. The last time he was not in a major was that PGA at Valhalla, that was the last time Tiger was not in a major. Of could, he was a pretty well-known amateur at the time. Do you recall, could any of you guys had any idea what was coming with him? People knew he was going to be a good player and all, but could you have ever dreamed?
KENNY PERRY: No, I don't think anybody could. You would hear comments into the locker room, you know, saying how far he hit it, but you know, a lot of guys hit it far. A lot of new kids hit it far; all of the new kids coming out hit it a long ways, but they are still not showing up like Tiger did.
But when he started winning and winning regular, we became believers. You've got to perform better out here and he's been able to do it. Shoot, I don't know how many tournaments he's won; it's been incredible. But with all of those majors, 14 majors he's won now, quite a story.

Q. People talking about the fact that he's not here --
KENNY PERRY: I think you need to have your best players here, but you also need the public to realize who the rest of the field is, and what they have actually brought to the table and what have they brought to the game. Maybe they can start marketing the players a little bit better and kind of get them out in the public eye a little bit more.
But it is a great opportunity for all of us. When he's not in the field, now we've got FedExCup, the $10 million up for grabs, there's just going to be a lot of opportunities for guys that normally wasn't going to get to have. I hate to see him go, but yet I like to see my chance to have an opportunity to win something; to have a chance to win, to win the FedExCup.

Q. Drug testing is going to begin next week, after a lot of talk about it; are you comfortable with the whole thing and how it's gone?
KENNY PERRY: I don't think our sport needs it. But, you know what, if they feel like we need to be like baseball and all the other sports, that's fine with me. I don't think you'll see any problems on our TOUR. I haven't seen any in my 22 years out here. I mean, maybe somebody did take steroids or whatever but I don't think you'll see it as an issue.
What worries me are the ones, like you can take over-the-counter cold drug or something that could give you a hot test or something they are saying. I know they were telling me a couple Olympic athletes took some kind of over-the-counter thing and they got kicked off the team because it came back positive.
You know, we just need to be -- it's just going to be a growing process. We all need to be a little more knowledgeable about what we can take.
I used to take a lot of -- like for breakfast I had a big shake and protein stuff we used to take, and it wasn't approved yet by what the TOUR -- I guess the TOUR has a staff that goes through and checks what they have approved, their medical staff. So we need to start taking those kind of products. So I quit taking all the stuff I used to take. So now I have to kind of seek the same stuff in a different name, basically, and figure out how to do it again.

Q. Knowing your background with County Creek Golf Course in your home state, what's the state of public golf in Kentucky right now?
KENNY PERRY: Well, I think it's good. I mean, we are growing. We are not known as a golf state by any means. You know the economy has hurt everything. I think rounds are down everywhere. Being a golf course owner, I'm fortunate enough my course is 28 and 32, so I'm at a price range where people can still afford to play.
I would say it would still be hard for your $75 to $100 facilities to try to get enough play to keep them going.
Golf, it's really a growing sport and we are really pursuing it in our state. I've got a great junior program at my place. I'm trying to get the kids more involved and more knowledgeable about our sport, and you know what, I just think it's growing, and I think it's just the kind of cool sport to do.

Q. You mentioned playing for your country. I wonder if you can talk about the difference of doing that, as opposed to playing in a tournament for yourself; is there more pressure or what's the big difference?
KENNY PERRY: A lot more pressure. I'll never forget the pitching wedge I hit to close out Mark Hensby in the Presidents Cup. I ended up winning the match and I think we came from behind to win it for Jack Nicklaus. It was pretty awesome to play for a man that you're pretty proud of and want to win for; and then to represent your country, it was a neat feeling. I remember having all those goosebumps coming down the back of my neck, and that was pretty special.
It's just different. You know, we play, we kind of do our own deal all year, our own independent contractors just going from week-to-week, and then it's nice to get on a major stage in front of the world, and we've been beaten five out of the last six times, and it's a great opportunity for me being in Kentucky in front of everybody to perform better well and hopefully win that Ryder Cup. I think it will be just an unbelievable feeling.

Q. Obviously with the Ryder Cup, your schedule is a little more hectic, a little more busy this year; next year, guys that have been as established as you probably don't go through the grind as much, and pick and choose? Do you see yourself doing that more next year and splitting time on the Champions Tour?
KENNY PERRY: I played with Fred Funk last week and I asked him a lot about that Champions Tour and he told me next year he's not going to play any on the Champions Tour and he's going to focus completely on our TOUR.
It's just that he said, you can't play both. He says you can't lean yourself out enough. It's hard to be successful on one tour and be successful on both. I don't know, they may not have child care either, he's got two young kids, I don't know, that may be one of the reasons why he's struggling out there, I don't know. (Laughing).
I'll wait till when I get there to see how that goes.
What was the other part of your question?

Q. Choosing your schedule.
KENNY PERRY: My schedule has not changed pretty much in the last 15 years. I usually pretty much go to the same venues where I feel like I've had the most success at. I may add a few new ones in the schedule, but next year I should be in all four majors and I should be in all four World events so, that will change. I wasn't in any of those this year. So that's eight tournaments right there. So that will definitely change my schedule for next year.

Q. How does the dynamic of The Ryder Cup, U.S. Ryder Cup Team change without Tiger?
KENNY PERRY: Tiger's great to be around. He's just a fun-loving kid and he loves to have fun. He loves to compete. He can't beat me in ping-pong. I wear him out in the ping-pong.
We'll definitely be more of an underdog team I guess. We don't have that -- everybody always wants, to beat Tiger, everybody always gets up for the No. 1 guy, and it's definitely going to hurt our team. But yet in the long run, you know, our team may be more focused, may take it more on their shoulders and not count on Tiger as much and may say, well, you know, I need to win points now.
We may become a tougher team; I don't know. Just have to wait and see. But you still hate to lose the No. 1 player in the world.

Q. Forgive me for not knowing but you're not exempt for the British, but you could get through on the five-tournament Money List; is that the only way?
KENNY PERRY: I'm not sure. I'm not going to go anyway. I'm going to play Milwaukee. I've won Milwaukee and I've Top-10ed it there the last 12 years in a row and love that tournament. Just for this year -- I'll play British next year, but I hate that Milwaukee doesn't have its own date anymore and they have made it opposite the British.
I already set my schedule up this year; so I already planned to play it, so that's kind of how I'm going this year.

Q. Perhaps there is room for Tiger as an assistant captain at The Ryder Cup?
KENNY PERRY: You know, that would be highly motivational to have him show up.
The Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills, he came out at the 16th to follow me the last three holes; that was pretty cool.

Q. What is your perception of the role or responsibilities of an event champion; here at the 50th, so many past champions are coming back to participate, and we have a three-time champion who could not squeeze is it into his schedule. What is the responsibility of an event champion to come back at some point, whether to defend or represent?
KENNY PERRY: Good question. I've never had that question. You know what, I hope each champion takes it personally and feels obligated to the tournament. Buick this week has put up $6 million, $4 million, to give us opportunity to come and play and make a living.
You know, sure, it depends on the individual, but I take a lot of pride of being a champion of a tournament and I try to make sure I come back each and every year to represent that tournament.
If they would call and ask me to do something, I try to do it. I came back for the Media Day -- I drove here. I can't answer for everybody, but I would hope each pro would take a lot of pride of being a champion at an event and hopefully want to come back and continue to represent that tournament.
STEWART MOORE: Kenny, thanks so much, and good luck this week.

End of FastScripts

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