SANDWICH, England - He has won three of his past four tournaments. He tied for third at the U.S. Open. Why not a victory today at the British Open for Kenny Perry?
"That would be the highlight of my career to bring that (Claret) Jug home," said Perry, 42, after shooting 1-under-par 70 Saturday at Royal St. George's. "To be at the home of golf and to have so much history and tradition and for me to have my name on that trophy would mean the world to me."
Perry, playing in his second Open, finished at 1-over 214, two behind leader Thomas Bjorn. He was tied for third with Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia and Ben Curtis.
"It's been a crash course for me," Perry said. "I'm in great shape, and if I can keep hitting it the way I've been hitting it and putting the way I've been putting, then it's going to be a fun day."
VIJAY'S LAMENT: Two-time major champion Singh had a bizarre round. At one point, he went eagle-birdie-birdie-bogey-bogey-bogey-bogey. He shot 69.
"After four straight bogeys, I thought I was out of it," Singh said. "But then I told my caddie (Dave Renwick) "Let's get something going here,' and I finished up quite well with birdies at 15, 16 and 18. I'm quite happy with the way I finished."
BEN WHO?: Curtis, 26, is a rookie on the PGA Tour playing in his first major championship. Curtis qualified by finishing 13th at the Western Open two weeks ago. This is his 16th Tour event, and his finish at the Western is his only top-25 finish.
BELATED CELEBRATION: Nick Faldo wasn't in a mood to celebrate his 46th birthday on Friday. He shot 74 and wondered whether he belonged. "I had some holes that reminded me that I can't play," said Faldo, a three-time Open champion.
On Saturday, he had several holes that reminded him he can. Faldo birdied the brutal 17th and 18th holes to shoot 4-under 67, tying the best round of the tournament.
"It was the classic early morning Saturday, one where you have a free run of it, you just go play," Faldo said. "So that's nice. But finishing it off, that is nice."
It was Faldo's 35th Open round in the 60s, extending his record. Last year at Muirfield, he broke Jack Nicklaus' mark of 34.
"That's what I was trying to do," he said. "If I could add one more, that would keep Tiger at bay for a couple more years."
AROUND SANDWICH: Sweden's Mathias Gronberg, who played with Woods in the third round, was wearing a Yankees cap. "I don't have a sponsor, so why not?" he said. Gronberg's wife is a Yankees fan from New York. ... Defending champion Ernie Els shot 72 and fell a shot back. He was tied for 18th, six back. ... Bjorn and Davis Love are in the final pairing (9:20 a.m. EDT.)
