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JOHN DEERE CLASSICJuly 13, 2008Kenny PerrySILVIS, ILLINOIS Q. We'd like to welcome the 2008 John Deere Classic champion Kenny Perry to the media center. With the win you pick up 4,500 FedExCup points, which moves you into second place on the list. Your bogey putt in regulation proved to be a moot point. Jump straight to how incredible your par saves were today. I mean, I think you probably agree that that was -- KENNY PERRY: That was the key to the week, to the round today. I probably made three putts outside of 15 feet for par. You know, I was just out of sync. That northwest wind, I told my Freddy, my caddie, I hated northwest winds. It always seems to have no humidity and kind of cool out there, even though it was very pleasant. This golf course plays tough with that kind of wind. I made a great putt on two for par. I mean, I missed the green. I hooked my drive left and laid it up in the bunker, hit it left of the green, tough chip. Probably made a ten-footer there, eight footer whatever that was. I kept doing it. I made a great one on four for par. I made an unbelievable for five. That was over 20 feet, I'd say, for par on five. I made a great birdie on six. Then you know I hit a tree on eight. It came back in the fairway. I hit a four iron. Then nine I pull hooked a 3-wood into the left rub and hit a pitching wedge out. At 80 yards, hit a sand wedge up there probably 15 feet, whatever, made that for par. I mean, I have never remembered a tournament where my putter won the tournament for me. I always felt like my ball striking was what I won the tournament with. Today it was definitely my putter that won the golf tournament. I was clutch. Whenever I had to make it, I made it. Then I started hitting it a little better on the back nine, not much. Killed that drive on 18. Tried to just hit a little 8-iron over there. Ended up in the playoff. It went into that short fringe and the green was growing into me, ball sitting down. I just kind bladed it a little bit too much and went over it and made a nice bogey putt to keep me in the tournament. Then what is funny is you hit a ball in the water and off a tree and have it come back to you, it's pretty ironic where both of those guys hit it in the water and gave me the tournament where I could just lay it up right and then two-putt and win the tournament. Pretty neat win for me knowing I didn't have my A game and still be able to come out on top. That gives me a lot of confidence. Q. Earlier this week you kind of referred to yourself as streaky player. This is your third win in just a few months. Are you wondering maybe I am beyond a streaky player and maybe I'm here to stay? KENNY PERRY: I don't know. Time will tell with that one. It's been a great run. Never had a run like this. I guess that gives me three firsts, a second, and a third. Definitely by far my best year ever at 47. I guess 47 is now the new 30. (Laughter.) Q. We talked about baseball players, pitchers, veteran pitchers who don't have their best curve ball, but they find a way to win. Two part: Is that what you did today? KENNY PERRY: Definitely. Q. And could Kenny 20 years ago have won today? KENNY PERRY: Never. Couldn't have come close. I wouldn't have had the nerves to handle all that. Knowing my golf swing was out of sync and out of kilter. I knew my putter was so good. I knew if I get it on that green I would have a chance to make a putt. I couldn't have won like that 20 years ago. I probably would have shot 78 today with the way I played 20 years ago. Pretty neat. Pretty neat way to know that I actually can putt now. What a confidence builder. That is really going to be key for me come Ryder Cup time. I had a situation today out there, I was think I am probably going to have these similar feelings come Ryder Cup time. I can draw upon this experience and hopefully it will make me a better match player. Q. Is this the most comfortable you have ever been in your own skin as a golfer out there? KENNY PERRY: Well, I've had streaks. I have been streaky. I have had months where I played great and I won. In 03 I won Memorial and Colonial back to back. A couple of weeks later I won Milwaukee. We had a third in between all that at the U.S. Open. I mean, I had months where in the past where I done the same. I maintained this longer than I ever maintained golf. I think it is all due to just trying to be focused on the Ryder Cup. That goal of mine to make the team really lit a fire under me to really get out there and work at it and be patient. It just taught me a lesson. I need to set for goals for myself. Q. What are your goals now? KENNY PERRY: I don't know. Good question. I have to re-think them now. Q. You have to start thinking about FedEx? KENNY PERRY: I haven't really thought about that right now. I just want to win more golf tournaments. I'd like to win 20 tournaments. I'd like to be a 20-TOUR winner. That is kind of my goal now. I have got 12, I need eight more. Is that a very lofty goal? Yes. It was kind of like my Ryder Cup. It was a dream more than a goal. I was like 100th in the world when I had this goal of making the Ryder Cup team and I made it happen. Now I would like to get 20 Tour wins, that is kind of my next goal. Q. How late can you go on this Tour? KENNY PERRY: Well, you know, I have -- with these three years, that gives me four years exemptions now and then I have got two more on top of that for Top 50 career money and top 25 career money. So that's six more years. I can go to what I am 53 or 54 on this Tour exempt-wise. Q. Can you see yourself playing this TOUR at 54 full-time? KENNY PERRY: I don't know. That is a good question. People ask me that. What am I going to do when I turn 50. I talked to Fred Funk a lot about that. He said it's hard for him to be split. Next year he's either going to play one or the other. It's been difficult on him to play both. Made him too thin. He wants to be top at one Tour or the other. I don't know. I guess we will pick and choose a little bit when I turn 50 here in a couple of years. If I am still hitting the ball like I am and still putting like I am, I don't know see why I can't be competitive out here. Q. What is going on at 47? KENNY PERRY: I think it is genetics with me. I am just a big guy. Just been blessed with the ability to hit the ball far my whole life. That is as far as I can hit it. I can't hit it 25 yards farther. I have got one swing speed and that's it. That's been the key to my success, my rhythm in my golf swing. I keep it the same my whole career. I don't try to speed it up or slow it down. If I am into the wind, I don't hit it far, but I can hit it downwind or right to left wind. I usually match the same swing speed each hole. That is why I am an accurate driver of the golf ball. Q. You mentioned that you were in the playoff at outside Atlanta. You opened the door for Ryuji with the bad shot. Can you relate to what these guys are feeling right now? KENNY PERRY: Definitely. Neither one of them had won tournaments. I know Jay had lost a tournament before at the Travelers, I think it was, yeah. I knew what they were feeling. I knew they were wanting to win, their guts churning. As I said yesterday, if I am going to win, I am going to win. I didn't put too much pressure on myself to win or lose. I just want to do the best I could do. When they both hit it in the water, it reminded me of Bay Hill when V.J. and I were tied and he hit it in the water. I said, "Give me that seven iron," and I hit way left. I hit on the left front. I had a 100-footer to two-putt to win. That was similar here. They both hit it in the water. I said, man, I can't look like a hill and hit it in the water right behind them. I played the club right and hit a beautiful 7-iron. I knew if I two-putted I was going to win the golf tournament. Q. Speaking of Brad, obviously him being a 35-year-old rookie, what did you think of his performances today? How do you relate to him with your career being your age right now? KENNY PERRY: I mean, he has got 12 years to catch me. He has got a lot of time and opportunity out there to win golf tournaments. I've never played with Brad. The first time I shook his hand was on the playoff hole. Never seen him swing a club until that tee shot. He shot 1- or 2-under. He had to play pretty good out there because it was tough conditions. There weren't many low rounds in those two groups coming in. He'll learn from it. It'll make him a better player. Q. What's going through your mind after you make the bogey on 18 and kind of have to go to the playoff? KENNY PERRY: Not a lot. I just signed autographs for a bunch of kids over there and I just was watching. Brad had a chance to win. I never saw his putt. I was listening for the crowd. When I heard them kind of "ahh", I knew he didn't make it. I was getting my mind ready to go play the playoff. Q. What do you think your legacy is? KENNY PERRY: I hope I am known more for what I do outside of golf than what I do in golf. I hope I am not remembered for a golfer. That is the last thing I want to be remembered for. I hope for my contributions to the game, Lipscomb University, the Boys and Girls Club, Potters Children's Christian Club there in Bowling Green, Kentucky that I am helping with. This is my job, this is what I do. I make a great living at it. I hope I can help a lot of people along the way. This is going to give me a lot of opportunities. Q. Can you bring me through what you are trying to do with those chips on 16 and 18? KENNY PERRY: Both chips were identical. The grass was laid into me. I was into the grain and the balls on dirt. Nothing underneath the golf ball. I was just trying to play a sand wedge back and try to drop the sand wedge on top of it. All I needed to do was move it this far basically. And both times I hit it right in the belly and sculled both of them. They both shot right out of there. I made a great putt on 16 for par. It was a clutch putt. I didn't want to do it again on the chip coming back, so I kind of stubbed it coming back. I knew if I left it short of the hole there, I was comfortable with that uphill climb. Q. Until last year you haven't been back here for about seven or eight years. You have been here two years in a row now. How do you like it? Is this going to be part of your regular schedule? KENNY PERRY: Definitely. I love it here. This is like home court for me. I love this big golf course. I don't feel confined or nervous when I get on the tee boxes here. It is a big course. They did a great job. Optically, it is beautiful to look at it. That 14 hole today was a fun hole. It was 302 to the front. I carried a 3-wood on the green. I had a 20-footer for eagle. Just a lot of neat holes out here. When it plays firm and fast, the scores aren't going to be as good as they were this week. With all the rain they had, it made it a dart board out there. That's why you saw all the good scores. Next year if they don't have the flooding around here and this golf course dries up, it will play a lot tougher. Q. Was there ever a point where you thought when is this going to run out? KENNY PERRY: No. I have been putting great all year. Ever since I stuck with this putter, I have been comfortable with it. My speed is good. I didn't worry about it. I really didn't. I was going to pick my line. Freddy read the greens great today. I kept putting my line on that line. Man, I kept tumbling them in there. All it did was give me more confidence. Q. Given that there is lot of season left, do you want to get into that discussion of Player of The Year? KENNY PERRY: I have to win a major to do that. I have one shot at that, The PGA. It don't matter how many tournaments I win. If I win them all out, I think Tiger will still be the Player of the Year. Has he got four years and a major or five wins? Q. Four? KENNY PERRY: Four wins. If I can win PGA and then win the FedExCup, I might can do it. The PGA is where I went and got grilled at the Ryder Cup. Howell was my captain up there at Oakland Hills. That's a left to right golf course. There is not many right to left holes. It doesn't fit my game very good, so it's quite a task for me to come out on top that week. Q. Do you know what your profile is? KENNY PERRY: No, they all thought I was a good player. Everybody always thought I was good player, I think. I don't think I am a great player, I think I am just a real good player. Q. Do you aspire to be great? KENNY PERRY: Not really. I like being low key, kind of a fly against the wall. I don't want to be -- I don't want to live in a fishbowl. I don't want Tiger status. There is no way I want any of that. Q. Where do you put all these trophies? KENNY PERRY: I have got a trophy case at the house. It's neat. This trophy will look nice in it. Q. If you play well in Milwaukee next week, will you think what if I had gone or will you contend with it? KENNY PERRY: Totally contend with it. I played Birkdale in 91, missed the cut there. My stroke average at the British Open is 76 point whatever, probably played six or seven events. I'm not good when it gets 40 and 50 degrees and 50 mile an hour winds. I like hot weather. I am a hot weather guy. That's why I struggled today, it wasn't hot enough for me the today. It was comfortable and pleasant out there. I like heat and humidity in the air. When it comes northwest winds and dries, I hit a knuckle ball. My ball is like a knuckle ball going out there. The air doesn't seem to hold it up like when there is humidity out there. Q. Did you ever aspire to be great? KENNY PERRY: No. I always told my dad I was going to win one TOUR event. I was going to make the TOUR and I was going to win one time. My goals were never to be a superstar. Just -- I just wanted to make a living, that's all I want to do, make a living and provide for my wife and kids. Q. 20 wins is better than pretty good though, isn't it? KENNY PERRY: I don't know. How many guys have won 20 times? A bunch? I don't know. Q. Hall of Fame? KENNY PERRY: I'll never forget, my son introduced me into the Western Hall of Fame and the Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame, both of them. One day I hope to introduce you into the Golf Hall of Fame. That little thought has stuck in my head. I would like for him to introduce me to that one day. It is going to take a major. I am going to have to win a major. So that time is running out of that deal, but that is okay. Q. Starting to win too much and getting too famous, more than you would like? KENNY PERRY: No. I don't think it's changed much. I really don't. Q. Kenny Perry, congratulations. Thank you for your time all week. End of FastScripts |
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