Kenny Perry is putting on a golf clinic this week at the Bank of America Colonial. Thursday at 5-under, Friday at 7-under, and Saturday at 6-under all add up to a new third round scoring record at the Colonial. Perry didn’t think the 36-hole record was enough and proceeded to break his own 54-hold record at 18-under 192 today. The Colonial tournament is firmly in Perry’s control as he leads second-place Billy Mayfair and Steve Stricker by seven strokes.
Perhaps the Colonial course is perfect for Perry’s game as he is ranked 8th in driving distance, 37th in fairways hit, and 1st in greens in regulation on the Tour in 2005. The Colonial Country Club requires both accuracy and distance and Perry has both and his stats reflect. If he holds on to this comfortable lead a win here be his second at the Colonial, his first coming in 2003, a year in which he posted 3 wins.
Perry is carrying some confidence into the final round which doesn’t bode well for his competitors. “My game’s here. It’s just a matter of me being patient tomorrow and going out there and winning,” Perry said. “I’ve played to the fat part of the greens and made a lot of nice 8-10 footers. If I do that again tomorrow, they’re not going to catch me.”
Perry has had two laser eye surgeries and is due to visit an eye doctor next week where he will likely get fitted for glasses. His vision certainly hasn’t been an issue this week as he has played fantastic golf for three rounds.
In second place are Billy Mayfair and Steve Stricker who each posted 4-under rounds. Mayfair last won in 1998, a year in which he won both the Nissan Open and the Buick Open. He has been in the top ten 3 times in 2005 with his best finish T6 at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson. Stricker’s last win came at the 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Stricker is currently 141st on the PGA Tour money list and could use some higher finishes to reduce tour-card anxiety. He lost his fully-exempt card in 2004 by finishing 151st on the 2004 PGA Tour money list. His 3 year fully-exempt status ran out for winning the Match Play Championship in 2001.
Peter Lonard, this year’s MCI Heritage winner, is alone in fourth place after posting a solid 5-under 65. He’s 18th on this year’s money list. “I thought if I can get into double figures (under par), I will give myself a chance (Sunday),” said Peter Lonard. “I actually didn’t plan on Kenny getting over 20.” Lonard has to be happy with his results this year. The MCI Heritage was his first PGA Tour victory and while not the most impressive finish carding a +4 in the final round, it still delivered him a win.
Brandt Jobe and Rod Pampling round out 5th place at 9-under. They trail front-runner Perry by 9 strokes.
First-round leader Patrick Sheehan has faded from the spotlight and sits at one under and tied for 48th place. His second round 72 and third round 75 didn’t complement the 62 he posted the first day.
Phil Mickelson is 16 strokes behind Perry. He’s had a mediocre showing this week having posted a total of 6 bogeys and two doubles through three rounds of play. Mickelson’s wins have typically come early in the season with his last win beyond May coming at the 2002 Canon Greater Hartford Open in June of that year. The best he can hope for is improving his current T39.
Another record was set today as the temperature rose to 97°, a new high for this day in Fort Worth, Texas. Couple the extremely high temperatures with a lack of wind you have an uncomfortable day for competitors.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say there is no reason that Perry has to fear the final round at the Bank of America Colonial. He would have to best Sergio Garcia’s record-tying collapse at the Wachovia championship to lose his lead. He is playing with confidence and at 18-under he’s a hard catch.
Pos Player Tot R1 R2 R3 1 Kenny Perry -18 65 63 64 T2 Billy Mayfair -11 67 66 66 T2 Steve Stricker -11 68 65 66 4 Peter Lonard -10 69 66 65 T5 Brandt Jobe -9 65 69 67 T5 Rod Pampling -9 66 67 68 T7 Geoff Ogilvy -8 71 67 64 T7 Fredrik Jacobson -8 68 69 65 T7 Aaron Baddeley -8 69 66 67 T7 Ted Purdy -8 66 65 71
Photo Credit: © Steve Grayson/ WireImage.
1 thought on “Kenny Perry Seeing Clearly at 2005 Colonial”