Perry follows through for his defining moment
48-year-old Kentuckian reaches goal of winning Ryder Cup in home state
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kenny Perry’s career defining performance will also be his final one in Ryder Cup play.
With the Franklin, Ky. player working in front of a gallery packed with friends and family — including his 84-year-old father, Ken Sr., in his trademark overalls — Perry beat Henrik Stenson 3 and 2 in singles, giving him a 2-1-1 record in what he called one of the most memorable weeks of his life.
It was redemption of sorts for Perry, who blew a two-shot lead on the 18th during the final round of the 1996 PGA Championship at Valhalla and said for years the course owed him one. He rededicated himself this year to make the team, winning three times to earn a spot at age 48.
“I said this was going to define my career, but you know what, it made my career,” Perry said.
Perry made sure the 18th wouldn’t come into play this time. He birdied four straight holes to take a 3-up lead after five holes and never let Stenson get closer than two the rest of the way.
The performance will be Perry’s final one at the Ryder Cup. Don’t look for him in Wales in 2010.
“I want to go out on top,” he said.
Boo being Boo
Boo Weekley is from western Florida, about 600 miles south of Valhalla, but you couldn’t tell it from the way the Kentucky crowd adopted him this week.
From the chants of “Booo” every time he made a putt to the T-shirts proclaiming Kentucky as the home of the “Red, White & Boo,” the 35-year-old Weekley became a cult hero over the weekend.
“I feel like I’ve been adopted,” Weekley said.
Maybe that explains Weekley’s relaxed demeanor on the tee. Playing in arguably the biggest match of his life, Weekley drilled his tee shot then placed his driver between his legs and began riding it down the fairway.
Goning the distance
Nine matches made it to the 18th hole over the first two days of the Ryder Cup, but those who staked out seats in the bleachers didn’t get much action Sunday.
Only one match reached the final hole — a halve between Hunter Mahan and Paul Casey.
The 10 matches going the distance this week were the fewest in a Ryder Cup since nine matches in 1995 at Oak Hill.
Under the current format that began in 1979, this was the first time that only one match reached the 18th hole on Sunday.
Fan wars
The action in the galleries at Valhalla were almost as entertaining as the golf.
U.S. and Europe fans spent most of the week going back and forth, and the battle continued during singles play.
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The European supporters had their own way of getting behind their stars, creating chants for some of the more popular players and turning the blue-and-gold Team Europe flag into just about every article of clothing you could imagine.
Europe captain Nick Faldo, however, wished he’d had a few more blue-and-gold fans behind the ropes.
“I wish we weren’t quite so outnumbered in the crowd,” Faldo said. “Maybe high gas prices kept some from coming over.”
Bad behavior
As if Lee Westwood wasn’t having a hard enough time in front of a highly partisan gallery, the longtime European star got a prank call at his hotel room late Saturday night.
He wasn’t the only one. Garcia received a similar call, though he slept through it. It didn’t stop with the players. Westwood said someone called his parents at 4:30 a.m.
“I found that quite amusing,” Westwood said. “It upset my dad’s preparation for walking around the course today.”
No heroics for Leonard
Justin Leonard didn’t get to play the hero this time.
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Leonard, who teamed with Hunter Mahan to go 2-0-1 during the opening two days of the match, is 0-1-2 in singles play.
Leonard worried after Saturday’s foursomes match how much gas he had left in the tank and sat out the afternoon matches. It didn’t help. He fell behind on the fourth hole and simply couldn’t make up ground on Karlsson, who finished the week 1-1-2.
Some of Leonard’s magic, however, may have rubbed off on his playing partner this week. Mahan drilled a 60-foot birdie putt on the 17th, helping ensure a half against Paul Casey.
Seeing red
Tiger Woods would have approved the U.S. team’s outfits Sunday.
After wearing blue on Saturday, the team switched to red for the singles matches, and they weren’t the only ones.
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A pair of European fans toted around red penguin figures and Azinger couldn’t help but notice, telling people to forget about the red penguins and focus on the guys in the red shirts.
Passing the baton
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear met with First Minister of Wales Rhodri Morgan on Sunday to pass the baton from Valhalla to Wales, which will host the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor.
Morgan and Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones participated in the closing ceremonies, which included flying the Wales flag part of the official exchange of responsibility for hosting the Ryder Cup.
The Cup will return to the United States at Medinah outside Chicago in 2012. Future sites include Gleneagles in Scotland in 2014, Hazeltine in Minnesota in 2016 and Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in 2020.
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