Kenny Perry

Kenny Perry looks like he’d be more at home in the front seat of a big rig than he would on the many golf courses he visits on the PGA Tour circuit. Despite his unassuming nature, Perry has made a place for himself in the world of golf. Golf fans have become accustomed to seeing Perry stroll fairways on weekends but Perry remains the same guy who people have come to appreciate in his home town of Franklin, Kentucky.

Perry’s steady work and persistence have secured him a top spot on the PGA Tour. He is currently 10th in the World Golf Rankings (still a whopping 12.8 points behind Tiger Woods) and 6th on the 2005 money list with $3,282,605. His current career earnings total $19,404,890.

Perry admits that he is a hometown boy. In his case, becoming one of golf’s superstars hasn’t taken Kentucky out of his heart. “Franklin’s a long way from the Tour and that’s the way I like it,” said Perry in 2003.

The next time you travel to Franklin (population 7,996) you might find Perry watching street races on Friday nights on Kenny Perry Drive. An avid car buff, Perry has owned some pretty hot cars. Among his collection have been a ’69 Camaro, a ’67 Chevy II Nova, and a ’02 Corvette. The hottest car in his garage has to be the 1,000-horsepower 1998 Grand Am that he races on a local circuit called “Outlaw 10.5.”

“Outlaw 10.5” is about the closest that Perry comes to being an outlaw. There are 42 churches and no movie theaters in Franklin and Perry seems to fit in perfectly. He is a deacon at a Church of Christ, doesn’t drink or swear, and has been married to his wife Sandy for 23 years. He’s a straight-shooting southern boy through and through.

You’ll find two golf courses in Franklin, KY. One is a private course that Kenny grew up playing and the other is at the end of Kenny Perry Drive. Perry set aside $2.5 million for the construction of a hackers dream: Country Creek. There is no trouble on the right side of Country Creek because Perry knew the kind of people playing it would be more likely to slice the ball than hook it. “I designed it for the 15-plus-handicapper,” said Perry. “I did not design it for the scratch golfer. All I’m trying to do is make people enjoy the game. Open their eyes a little where they want to come back.”

Playing Country Creek won’t break the bank either. Green fees are $13.52 on weekdays and $16.52 on the weekend. A cart will cost you an additional $8. Building Country Creek was Perry’s way of giving back to a community that previously didn’t have a public golf course. If you want to get to know Perry you could probably meet him at the Country Creek practice tee on the days he’s in town. This May Perry celebrated the course’s ten-year anniversary by putting on a clinic and making himself available to local fans for questions and feedback. “This is my legacy,” Perry said at the celebration. “This is what will be left. Thats what were trying to do, giving back to the game of golf.”

He’ll be taking this September’s PGA Tour events off to coach both the girls’ and boys’ high-school golf teams at Franklin’s local high school, Simpson High. He’s done this for some time now, making a difference in the lives of aspiring young golfers.

His deliberate back-swing and lunge toward the ball beg the question, “How did he pull that off?” While not exactly orthodox he has made his swing his own. He is a consistent ball-striker and is very effective with the skill he has.

Perry broke from the norm when he hired his son’s best friend as his swing-coach, Matt Killen. Matt was born three years after Perry began his professional career but seems to have a better-than-average understanding of swing mechanics. Perry sees him as an integral part of his ongoing success on Tour. “He’s a natural,” says Perry. “He’s just a natural teacher. I’ve always told him he was born to be a golf instructor.”

Killen has a teaching philosophy that should benefit players like Perry who is well entrenched in his career. “When I see somebody I take their status as a player and their swing and I’m focused on one thing,” says Killen, “Whether its Kenny Perry or its some guy I’ve never met before: I want to make them better.”

Killen said of his approach to teaching Perry, “Anything that I see that doesn’t require major change that is something that’s simple that will benefit in the long run we do change it. We’ve worked on hitting some different shots, some fades and some stuff that he normally doesn’t like to do.” They’ve also worked together on Perry’s short game, particularly chipping to tighten things up around the greens. “I don’t really believe in making a golf swing,” says Killen. “I believe in taking what somebody already has and adding perfection to it.”

Perry said of his young swing coach, “I need somebody who understands the way I’m thinking and the way I believe. He understands what I’m trying to do and I truly believe when he says something to me its the right thing.” Involving Killen is one more way that Kenny Perry has given back to the game of golf.

In 1985 Perry was still on the outside of the PGA Tour looking in and he went to a local businessman and elder in his church for help. The businessman gave his $5,000. They agreed that if he should fail to secure his card he wouldn’t have to pay it back but if he should make the Tour he would give a percentage of his earnings to to charity. David Lipscomb University, his wife’s alma mater, his own Western Kentucky University, and some charities have benefitted from this agreement.

So far, Perry has nine wins on Tour, two of which came this season. He won at the Bay Hill Invitational and the Bank of America Colonial after a winless 2004. Even though he didn’t win in 2004 he did finish 17th on the money list and kept building on the things that brought him the greatest success of his career in 2003.

2003 was far and away Perry’s best season. He had wins at the Bank of America Colonial, the Memorial Tournament, and the Greater Milwaukee Open. In addition to his three wins he had ten top-ten finishes in 26 starts and finished the year with $4,400,122 in earnings. He set the 54- and 72-hole tournament records at the Colonial and tied the course record with a third-round 9-under 61. His eight-stroke lead going into Sunday was enough to clench the win and bring home a $900,000 paycheck, the best of his career.

Perry reflected on his 2003 season:

I’ve always been a steady and consistent player, a competitive golfer. People ask what was different last year. I don’t know. I just know I was able to sustain my good play longer than ever before. I used to think I could do well in golf tournaments. Now I think I can win them. It might just be that I’ve come to a kind of comfort place in life.

“When the financial pressures are off,” said Perry, “you remember it’s a game. Maybe it’s as simple as that: I’ve remembered it’s a game.” Perry has contended more often in recent years because of his new found attitude toward the game. I can see Perry finding success on the Champion’s Tour in a few years, should he choose to keep playing. Like a few others before him, Perry has played his best golf in his forties.

In his younger days his father would tee up balls for him hours on end showing him how to swing the club and score. The time that Kenny’s father spent with him payed off in character and in success as a professional.

Perry is one of the Tour’s longest off the tee. This year he is eighth in driving distance on the PGA Tour, averaging 304.1 yards per drive. He is 71st in driving accuracy which isn’t bad considering he hits the ball so far. If Perry could get his putting average down from 1.795 he would factor in a lot more tournaments. His putting average is 126th on Tour. The biggest thing going for him is that he is currently sixth in scoring average, coming in under 70 strokes per round at 69.53. The guy has learned how to go low.

Perry has been a steady force on the PGA Tour in recent years and that should continue for a few more. Perry is the kind of guy that you want to have on the Tour. He is everything that a professional athlete should try to be. He is dedicated to his family and his sport, he has given back to the game that has given him prosperity, and he is a true sportsman. He may look like a long-haul trucker, but he belongs on a golf course.