Kenny Perry: realizing he’s just not that good
It was eye-opening to see 48-year-old Kenny Perry bare his soul after losing the Masters on Sunday. Perry admitted that he’s only an “above average” player, that he couldn’t convert the pressure putt when needed like Tiger Woods or Mark O’Meara. Even more, Perry admitted that he “skulled” his chip shot on 17, a persistent problem that he’s had because of a twitchy right hand.
It’s easy to find weaknesses in your own game when you’ve just lost a devastating defeat at the Masters. Kenny Perry did hit an awesome 8 iron on 16 that he nearly holed. That wasn’t enough, though, to get Perry through 17 and 18, which he bogey-bogeyed.
Perry’s candor about his own weaknesses is a helpful reminder of how hard golf is. I know my own golf game has many weaknesses, even when there’s no pressure. If the tournament depended on me getting up and down for par, I would almost certainly skull or flub my chip shot. So I can only imagine what the pros like Kenny Perry feel when they “only” need to par the last two holes to win the Masters. We’ve been spoiled quite a bit watching Tiger Woods who normally closes the deal when he’s leading especially at majors. Most golfers are not like Tiger Woods, though. Kenny Perry made a mess of the final holes when he had a 2 shot lead. That’s true. But it’s happened to others. Jean Van de Velde, Scott Hoch, Paddy Harrington, Phil Mickelson, Len Mattiace, Stewart Cink, to name a few.
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