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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 14, 2009Kenny PerryTURNBERRY, SCOTLAND MALCOLM BOOTH: Thanks for joining us. Following what must have been a difficult experience at the Masters in April, getting so close to winning a major championship, did it reinvigorate your desire to win one and your belief that you can? KENNY PERRY: Well, I don't know. I always thought I could win a major. I've got the game to win one, just -- I just haven't seemed to perform very well when I've gotten to them. But all that last year, the winning the three times and then twice this year, and almost winning the Masters, I've had a great year and a half. Things are going awesome for me. It's kind of gave me a little more confidence to feel like when I come into one I'm thinking more about winning than just surviving. I'm looking more forward to them. MALCOLM BOOTH: You've just had your first time in the southwest of Scotland, your first sightings of Turnberry the last couple of days. What do you think of the golf course and the surroundings? KENNY PERRY: I think the golf course is tremendous. I've noticed -- to me it seems like you're penalised more for your off-line shots here. The rough is very severe just off the golf course in places, so you've got -- to me this is more of a ball-striker's tournament. You've got to really hit a lot of fairways this week. The greens are in great shape; they're holding anything you throw in there. If the wind and the rain -- it all banks on the weather, what kind of tee time you have. The guy who hits it well this week is definitely going to have a huge -- more of an advantage this week than I think the guy who is spraying it a little bit and surviving out of the rough. Q. Your putting has been great the last couple of years. Can you talk about how that could benefit you here? The ball-striking obviously is going to be a premium, except the putting is going to be a big thing, as well. KENNY PERRY: Well, I mean, that's probably the reason I played better the last year and a half; my putter has been a lot better. These greens are a little bit slower in speed than what I'm accustomed to. My putter has a very slow insert in it. I noticed I'm going to have to stroke it a lot harder than I normally stroke it. But when I play well I always finish top 20 in the tournament seems like in putting; that's my stats. The guy that putts well -- you're going to have to drive it straight this week and you're going to have to putt it. Very difficult. I noticed I played the last three or four holes in some pretty high winds and rain coming in here just a minute ago. It really changed the complexion of the golf course in a hurry. It changed in just a matter of five minutes from a southerly breeze. It just seemed to get right back in our face and got really nasty out there. But the green speeds, I don't feel too nervous over them, I don't feel like I'm going to knock it way by the hole or anything. I notice at my age I have a little hitting pattern in my stroke now, so that's not going to bother me too much out there on the greens. I think I'll do okay. I just have to adjust to the speed a little bit, speed it up a little bit more, hit it a little bit firmer and keep it on-line, and I think good things are going to happen. Q. You had talked about the fact that you didn't come over here a lot because you didn't really like links golf that much. You've scored well -- performed well in some of the events you've been here. This isn't a typical kind of links golf course the way it's set up. The only question is do you think that your high ball flight and the way you play will match up with this? KENNY PERRY: Well, technology has changed. With the ball flying the way it does, high launch, no spin, that has helped me more than anything. I really don't have to adjust my game when I come over here anymore. I just play my normal shot. I'm not trying to beat it down or hit it low, change my golf swing, ball position. Ever since we went to the new ball in the early 2000s I've performed pretty good over here. I really haven't had to adjust for anything. That's helped me more than anything. The driver with the high launch, the trampoline effect, it's given me more yardage, and the golf ball flying with less spin on it has really helped me in these conditions when you get in 25-plus-mile-an-hour winds has really helped. So, yeah, I think that's been the big reason for my success when I come over here and play is because in the past when I've tried to change it's really affected me when I went back home. When I try to shove it way back in my stance and lean out and get out ahead of it and trap it more and hit it low and run it, that really affected me when I got back home. It took me two or three events to get it back up in my stance and get my trajectory back. But now when I come over here I really don't change a lot. Q. You received a bit of criticism last year for not coming. Do you feel that was a bit unjustified? KENNY PERRY: I think people just didn't understand. That story was -- you know, the Ryder Cup was at Valhalla, it was in my home state of Kentucky where I lost the PGA Championship in '96 to Mark Brooks. To me personally, the people in Kentucky and my home state, that's what they remembered me for. And my goal was to get back there and be an effective player to where my home thought of me differently as a player. It worked perfectly, my plan of winning three times, went to the Ryder Cup, played great. And now they don't even think about Valhalla, the PGA Championship anymore, they always think about the Ryder Cup now about me. I didn't want the people here to misunderstand. They need to understand, if the Ryder Cup would have been somewhere else, I would probably have come over here. But being in my home state, it really kind of changed my focus and desire, what I wanted at that point in time in my life. I figure, here I am 48 years old, that was my last opportunity probably to play in a Ryder Cup, plus being in my home state in front of my home folks, it was just a big opportunity to me. And that's the reason why I didn't come over here last year. Q. There was a row in the British papers today involving Colin Montgomerie and the placement of a ball four years ago. You unluckily were accused of trying to improve your line semi-recently, and I suggest that was unlucky. But does mud stick in these situations? Can players ever lose the stigma of that sort of thing, because Colin is coming into a real hammering today from Sandy Lyle. KENNY PERRY: I haven't even heard anybody speak of that instance here. What do you think? You saw it. That's the only thing that matters. I went to Charley Hoffman, and he said he saw no wrong in it and the Tour saw no wrong in it, so I assume -- Q. In your situation, though. KENNY PERRY: Yeah, in my situation, yeah. And I don't know Colin's -- I don't know that situation, so I don't know what's going on there. So whatever. Q. You talked about now trying to think you can win instead of just surviving. How much did the Masters experience -- and you were very honest after that, almost saying that you didn't really believe you could win. Has going through that experience this year, what has that done to maybe change your mindset coming into a British Open? KENNY PERRY: It gave me a lot more confidence. I had played poorly at Augusta every time I've gone there until this year. I think experience, I think being in the situation in my life, my kids are all grown and gone, it's just Sandy and I traveling each week. My life and my perspective has changed a little bit. My focus is more on golf. I went in there with a game plan. I just took a different strategy to Augusta. I went in there early, a week before early, played a lot of golf there. I really charted the golf course well, kind of figured out how I wanted to play the strength of my game to play that golf -- kind of set up that golf course, and I played it to perfection. The problem was I just -- it came too early. I got too big a lead too fast there at the very end. Instead of playing aggressive like I'd been playing all week, I got kind of conservative on the last two holes and it cost me. It was a good lesson. And, shoot, it showed up at Hartford. Instead of playing safe at Hartford, I birdied two of the last four coming in to win the tournament. Yeah, I think it -- the majors are always difficult tests. You've got to really -- it's hard to get your game ready for a major and then to have it come into form that week when you're driving it well, you're putting it well, your irons are good, everything comes in right together. So it's a tough test. And it was neat for my game to completely come together at the Masters. It was all there. I always thought I could play well there, but I had never had much success. So you're right, I've always played well at the PGA Championships, seems like I always play well in that tournament. And the U.S. Open I've never had a lot of luck in; third I think is the best I think I've ever finished in that tournament. I've always loved this Open. I love this championship. I've always enjoyed playing over here. It's just -- I tell everybody it's like playing on the moon, because it's so different to me. When I come over here and I'm looking around, just at the landscape, it's beautiful, sitting on the water. But I think eighth is my best finish here. I haven't played many Opens. But I always enjoy coming over. The fans are great. I have a good time with it. And my game has gotten better. If I can figure out a way to get in contention on Sunday, if I played well and could get in contention, yeah, I don't think I'll back down. I think I'll be ready to go. Q. What has the reception of the fans been to you? KENNY PERRY: I actually think the gallery was way down today. There weren't very many people. I had Anthony Kim and Dustin Johnson and Charley Hoffman in my group, I didn't have to sign too many autographs or nothing. I don't know. There wasn't much said on the reception there. Q. You mentioned Hartford. It seemed like after the Masters it took you a little longer than maybe even you thought it would take to get over that. Did Hartford, A, get you over that; and B, are you back to where you felt like you were playing last year now after all that? KENNY PERRY: I'm better. I don't know if I'm back to where I was at Augusta. Augusta I was firing on all eight cylinders. I had it all going that week. This week I feel okay. It's just -- it was -- I was telling Justin, my son is caddying for me this week, Justin. I felt like every hole was the first hole to me, because I'd get stiff in between -- after chipping and putting and getting to the tee box. I felt the cool wind and I felt real stiff today. I don't know if it was from the jet lag from flying all night to get here yesterday from the charter from the John Deere, having to play 36 at the John Deere, jumped on a charter, got here lunchtime yesterday. I could be a little sore from that 36 holes. That was kind of a grueling day for all of us coming from there. But I felt -- I moved my ball position up yesterday on the range and I actually started hitting some real good quality golf shots again. My tee-to-green game feels pretty good all of a sudden again. I'm still a little loose, hitting some to the right, I'm losing a little bit. I think by Thursday it will be there. I'll practise a lot this afternoon. I'll play another practise round tomorrow, try to get my body more accustomed to the time change. Q. How did Hartford change your mindset after Augusta? KENNY PERRY: It didn't change anything. I kind of lost the Augusta thing; a couple of days I was over that. But two of my better tournaments, Colonial and Memorial, I usually play better at, I had average finishes, I didn't play very well. I just got off. My ball-striking wasn't very good. But actually it's starting to feel more natural to me right now. It's starting to feel better. My eyesight to the ball, I'm catching it out of my right eye. When I was at Colonial I was catching it early out of my left eye, and I pulled it and hooked it. When I see a golf ball more out here on me, I know I'm swinging okay. I'm starting to catch it out of my right eye, which is a good thing. Q. Your fantastic world ranking, what does it mean to you and what does it say that a player at your point in your career can have such a fantastic world ranking? KENNY PERRY: I think it gives a lot of guys hope for one thing. Here I am turning 49 next month and fourth in the world. I guess I'll probably still be there next month when my age comes around. Not too many can say they're 49 and fourth in the world. It's an honour. It's pretty neat. It's just taken me a long time to get there. I wish I was in my mid-20s now and was fourth in the world, because my mentality, I've changed so much in 20 years out there. I think this is my 24th year on Tour. It's just taken me a long time to figure it out, to be comfortable, relaxed, enjoy the people and the crowds and the travelling. It's just taken me a long time to get to where I really enjoy the game again. To me it was a job in the '90s and early -- but now it's become fun. I've enjoyed it. Like I played a practise round with Anthony Kim, and he's a hoot. He's such a kid. He's the same age as my son. I was just aggravating him the whole day out there. I kind of take the young kids and aggravate them. But it's a lot of fun to me, anyway, just to hang out with them. Q. Off the subject, here, I'm wondering, a lot of fans kind of were pulling for David Duval at the U.S. Open and what he's been through. I'm wondering how the players, do they have the same mindset for a guy who struggled so much for so long who seems to be getting his game back in order again? KENNY PERRY: Definitely. I saw it coming. I played some practise rounds with David and he hit it beautifully in the practise rounds I played with him before The Open. When I saw him there, I actually thought he was going to win. I was pulling for him. Here is a guy that was top of the world and now he's fallen to 200th in the rankings, but I guess he's up now from that. To actually have a chance to come back and win, he's been there, done it, he's won majors, so he actually knows how to do it. It's nice to see, and I think a lot of guys were pulling for him to win. MALCOLM BOOTH: Kenny, thanks very much for coming in. End of FastScripts |
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