Golf

Perry's victory completes trifecta

By BOB HARIG
Published March 22, 2005

Bay Hill winner Kenny Perry, with tournament host Arnold Palmer, has victories at three invitationals linked to three of golf's greatest: Palmer, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus.

Perry's victory completes trifecta

Kenny Perry will never go down in history as one of golf's greatest players, but he does have a pretty neat triple crown on his resume: victories at three invitational tournaments linked to three of the greatest names in the game.

Perry has won Jack Nicklaus ' Memorial Tournament twice. He won the Colonial, played at Hogan's Alley, the tournament associated with Ben Hogan . And on Sunday, he won the Bay Hill Invitational, hosted by Arnold Palmer .

Not bad for a down-to-earth guy from Kentucky who once was better known for winning the tournament in which Annika Sorenstam played (the 2003 Colonial) and spending too much time in the television tower before a playoff he lost at the 1996 PGA Championship.

"I really wanted to win here because I really wanted to make my trifecta there with those three great men," Perry said.

Perry had a grand total of four victories through the 2001 season but is making the best out of life in his 40s. At age 44, he has eight wins and has qualified for the Tour Championship in each of the past four seasons.

"I just don't have any pressure," he said "I have kids, two in college, and one who's a junior in high school. Their lives are good. We're just happy. I'm having fun out here now, where I used to get stressed out. I had mortgages and bills and it was stressful.

"It's really been a nice ride. It makes me really appreciate those times, as opposed to where I was and how much I've grown as a person and a player. I've just changed and I enjoy it now. That's been the biggest difference in my play. I'm having fun out there."

PUSH TO AUGUSTA: Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell tied for second at the Bay Hill Invitational and the $440,000 he earned qualified him for special temporary membership on the PGA Tour. In five PGA Tour starts, he has earned $700,630 - more than the 150th finisher on last year's money list. The winner of last year's Italian Open on the European PGA Tour, McDowell can now accept unlimited sponsor exemptions on the PGA Tour. His finish also helped him move to 38th in the Official World Golf Ranking, which gets him in this week's Players Championship and also likely will qualify him for the Masters. The top 50 cutoff for the Masters is Monday.

"I'm looking forward to it," he said. "Obviously I'm excited to get into the Players. It's going to be something I've looked forward to all my life to play at Sawgrass. And the Masters is going to be a special tournament to try and work hard to get into."

ANNIKA ON A ROLL: Two tournaments, two victories for Annika Sorenstam . She needed some help from Lorena Ochoa on Sunday at the Safeway tournament, but applied the pressure and then took care of business. It was Sorenstam's fourth victory in her last four LPGA tournaments.

"I couldn't have asked for a better start to the season or a better buildup to the major," said Sorenstam, who has 58 LPGA Tour victories and goes for the year's first major championship at this week's Kraft Nabisco.

DUVAL'S (CONTINUED) DEMISE: For David Duval , it was not pretty - again. He missed the cut at the Bay Hill Invitational, but it was the way he did so that was so startling. Duval opened the tournament with an 85 that included three double bogeys and a triple.

"I don't know what to say," Duval told reporters after missing the cut. "When you play with no confidence, you can't play this golf game, especially on difficult courses. It's frustrating."

Duval, who was ranked No. 1 in the world for several weeks in 1999 and won the 2001 British Open, has seven scores of 79 or higher this season. Since the start of the 2003 season, he has made just seven cuts in 34 PGA Tour events and has missed six this season. Nonetheless, he plans to play in this week's Players Championship (which he won in 1999) and the Masters.

"I got to go play," he said. "I got to keep trying. I'm not a quitter."

NO MONTY: Scotland's Colin Montgomerie needed a top-two finish at the European event in China to move into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and earn a spot in this week's Players Championship. It would have been a long journey, but Monty was ready in order to earn a spot in the Masters. It didn't happen. Montgomerie, despite being tied for the lead Sunday when play began and birdieing four of the first five holes, missed a playoff by two strokes. Paul Casey won the tournament. Monty was sixth.

AROUND GOLF: Needing a final-round 73 at the Safeway tournament to qualify for this week's Kraft Nabisco, Seminole's Brittany Lincicome shot 79 on Sunday - a day after shooting 66. Lincicome needed to be among the top 15 money winners to qualify for the year's first major. She settled for a tie for 20th, which meant $15,410. She is 41st on the money list with $20,422. ... Fred Couples ' tie for eighth at Bay Hill was his first top-10 since he tied for fourth last year at the Memorial.

[Last modified March 22, 2005, 01:22:12]