James Kenneth Perry (born August 10, 1960) is an American
professional golfer who currently plays on the
PGA Tour Champions
PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour.
History and format
The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many year ...
. He won 14
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
events and has won nine PGA Tour Champions events including four
senior major championships: the 2013
Constellation Senior Players Championship
The Senior Players Championship, stylised by the PGA Tour as The SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, is one of the five major championships on golf's PGA Tour Champions. The inaugural event was played in 1983 and the age minimum is 50, the standard fo ...
, the 2013
U.S. Senior Open
The U.S. Senior Open is one of the five major championships in senior golf, introduced in 1980. It is administered by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and is recognized as a major championship by both the PGA Tour Champions and the Eu ...
, the 2014
Regions Tradition
The Tradition (known as the Regions Tradition for sponsorship reasons) is an event on the PGA Tour Champions. First staged in 1989, the PGA Tour recognizes the event as one of the five senior major golf championships. Unlike the U.S. Senior Ope ...
, and the 2017 U.S. Senior Open.
Early years
Perry was born in
Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Elizabethtown is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,531 at the 2010 census, and was estimated at 30,289 by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2019, making it the 11th-largest city ...
, and raised in
Franklin, Kentucky
Franklin is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Simpson County, Kentucky, United States. The county is located on the south central border of the state, and its population was 10,176 at the 2020 census.
Kentucky Downs, formerly ...
. His parents are Ken and Mildred Perry. He was introduced to the game of golf by his father at the age of seven.
[
He started his high school golf career at Franklin-Simpson High School. Shortly thereafter, his father accepted a job opportunity in McCracken County a few miles outside ]Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Miss ...
. Kenny attended high school and played on the golf team at McCracken County's Lone Oak High School, near Paducah. After graduating from Lone Oak, he attended Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...
in Bowling Green
A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls.
Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...
.
Personal life
Perry has three children (Lesslye (Harris), Justin and Lindsey) with his wife, Sandy Perry. His son Justin played on Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...
's golf team, and has also caddied for his father on several occasions. His mother, Mildred, died on October 1, 2009, at the age of 79 at her home in Franklin while under Hospice care after a long battle with multiple myeloma a cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow. Perry is a member and deacon of Franklin Church of Christ in Franklin, Kentucky.
Professional career
Perry turned professional in 1982. He failed in his first two attempts to qualify for the PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
at Q-school
In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...
. He missed by 1 stroke one year and received word that his wife had gone into labor during the fourth round the next year. He had been sponsored by a group of about twenty individuals, many local citizens from Franklin, in his early play on the mini-tours and his first two attempts at Q-school. In 1985, a Franklin businessman and David Lipscomb University (now simply Lipscomb University
Lipscomb University is a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, between Belmont Boulevard to the west and Granny White Pike o ...
) graduate lent him $5000 for a last shot at Q-school. Rather than repay the loan, he was asked to give a percentage of his tour earnings to Lipscomb if he qualified. He tied for 40th at Q-school, earning his card with a two-shot cushion. Perry and his benefactor agreed on 5 percent, and he has maintained that commitment to Lipscomb ever since in the form of a scholarship for residents of Simpson County, Kentucky
Simpson County is a county located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the total population was 19,594. Its county seat is Franklin.
History
Simpson County was established in 1819 from Allen, Log ...
.
In Perry's first few seasons, he struggled to retain his qualification status. He made his first big (for the time) check on the PGA Tour ($55,000) with a T-4 finish at the Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational
The Shriners Children's Open is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Nevada. Founded in 1983, it is the fourth event of the Tour's 2019–20 wrap-around season and is played annually in October in Las Vegas. It is currently held at the TPC Summ ...
in May 1987. Shortly after that tournament, Perry repaid all of the money put up by all of his original sponsors, even though he had no legal obligation to do so. Perry got his first win in 1991 at the Memorial Tournament
The Memorial Tournament is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on a Nicklaus-designed course at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. The golf course passes through a large n ...
. Two more wins followed in the mid 1990s, another in 2001, and three victories in 2003.
In 1996, Perry was in contention at the PGA Championship
The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...
held at Valhalla
In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat e ...
in his native Kentucky. He had a one shot lead on the last hole but took a bogey and proceeded to be beaten in the playoff by Mark Brooks.
Perry played in the 2004 Ryder Cup
The 35th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 17–19, 2004, in the United States at the South Course of Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit.
The European team won the competition by a ma ...
at Oakland Hills Country Club
Oakland Hills Country Club is a private golf club in the central United States, located in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. It consists of two 18-hole courses designed by Donald Ross: the South Course (1918) and the ...
in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. On the first day, Perry played in an afternoon foursome with Stewart Cink and they lost to Sergio García
Sergio García Fernández (; born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer. He has played on the European Tour, PGA Tour and LIV Golf Invitational Series. García has won 36 international tournaments as a professional, most notably t ...
and Luke Donald (2 & 1). On the third day, Perry played in a singles match and lost to Lee Westwood (1 up). Team Europe defeated Team USA 18½ to 9½.
In 2005, Perry won at the Bay Hill Invitational
The Arnold Palmer Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played each March at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, a private golf resort owned since 1974 by Arnold Palmer in Bay Hill, a suburb southwest of Orlando, Florida ...
and the Bank of America Colonial
The Colonial National Invitation, titled for sponsorship reasons as the Charles Schwab Challenge since 2019, is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, played annually in May in Fort Worth at Colonial Country Club, which organiz ...
. The following year, he became the 10th man to reach $20 million in PGA Tour career earnings in addition to taking an 8-week break from the tour to recover from knee surgery. He was in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for over 100 weeks from 2003 to 2005 and 2009 to 2010.
Since returning from arthroscopic
Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the j ...
knee surgery in early 2006, Perry struggled to find the previous form he had from 2003 to 2005. However, in 2008, he had a steady start making 10 cuts in his first 11 tournaments, and beginning in the middle of May he had six top ten finishes in eight starts, including three victories in the Memorial Tournament
The Memorial Tournament is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on a Nicklaus-designed course at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. The golf course passes through a large n ...
, the Buick Open
The Buick Open was a PGA Tour golf tournament from 1958 to 2009. In 2007, the tournament was held at the end of June, a change from its traditional spot between The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. Regardless, many prominent players ...
, and the John Deere Classic (in which he beat Jay Williamson
Justin Arch "Jay" Williamson IV (born February 7, 1967) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour.
Williamson was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Trinity College and was a member of the ...
and Brad Adamonis
Bradley Fred Adamonis (born January 16, 1973) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour.
Adamonis' grandparents are of Lithuanian descent. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island and graduated from Miami University in O ...
in a playoff). He received some criticism for skipping major championships in 2008 in order to concentrate on qualifying for the Ryder Cup team. He was eager to make the team as the event was being held in his native Kentucky, and he helped the USA win the cup for the first time since 1999.
Perry played in the 2008 Ryder Cup at the Valhalla Golf Club
Valhalla Golf Club, located in Louisville, Kentucky, is a private golf club designed by Jack Nicklaus, opened in 1986.
In 1992, Valhalla was selected to host the PGA Championship in the year 1996 PGA Championship, 1996, one of golf's four Men's ...
in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
. On the first day, Perry played a morning foursome with Jim Furyk
James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. In 2010, he was the FedEx Cup champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 200 ...
and they halved the match with Sergio García
Sergio García Fernández (; born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer. He has played on the European Tour, PGA Tour and LIV Golf Invitational Series. García has won 36 international tournaments as a professional, most notably t ...
and Lee Westwood. On the second day, Perry played a morning foursome with Furyk and they defeated Pádraig Harrington
Pádraig Peter Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Champi ...
and Robert Karlsson
Robert Karlsson (born 3 September 1969) is a Swedish professional golfer who has played on the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and now plays on the PGA Tour Champions.
Early life
Karlsson was born in Katrineholm, Sweden where his father Björn ...
(3 & 1). Also on day two, Perry played an afternoon fourball with Furyk and they lost to Ian Poulter
Ian James Poulter (born 10 January 1976) is an English professional golfer who plays in the LIV Golf League. He has previously been ranked as high as number 5 in the world rankings. The highlights of Poulter's career to date have been his two ...
and Graeme McDowell
Graeme McDowell (born 30 July 1979) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland. He has a total of eleven tournament victories on the European Tour, and four on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Be ...
(1 up). On the third day, Perry played in a singles match and defeated Henrik Stenson (3 & 2). Team USA defeated Team Europe 16½ to 11½.
Despite rumors that he would retire following Team USA's Ryder Cup victory, Perry confirmed at the start of the 2009 PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
season that he hoped to win at least eight more tournaments, which would take his career total to 20. Twenty wins ensures a lifetime PGA Tour membership.
Perry won his first event in 2009 in his third start at the FBR Open
The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in late January/early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The tournament was originally the Arizona ...
, where he defeated Charley Hoffman
Charley Lindley Hoffman (born December 27, 1976) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.
Early years and amateur career
Born in San Diego, California, Hoffman won the California state high school championship in 1994 and 199 ...
on the third playoff hole with a birdie.
It was his 13th career tour win. He maintained a rich vein of form throughout the first few months of the 2009 season, making ten cuts in ten events and registering five top-10 finishes during this streak.
In April 2009, Perry was the 54-hole co-leader at The Masters
The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first ma ...
and held the lead by two strokes with two holes to go. However, he recorded two straight bogeys, after failing to find the green in regulation at both the 17th and 18th holes. This resulted in a sudden-death playoff with Ángel Cabrera
Ángel Cabrera (; born 12 September 1969) is an Argentine professional golfer who has played on both the European Tour and PGA Tour. He is known affectionately as ''"El Pato"'' in Spanish ''("The Duck")'' for his waddling gait. He is a two-tim ...
and Chad Campbell
David Chad Campbell (born May 31, 1974) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, where he has won four times. He also notably finished as a runner-up at the 2009 Masters, after losing in a sudden-death playoff.
Early years ...
. Perry made par on the first extra hole, to match Cabrera, but Campbell was eliminated after he made bogey. At the second extra hole, Perry missed the green from the middle of the fairway and then ran his pitch well past the hole, resulting in a bogey. Cabrera then won the playoff and the tournament with a par. Perry would have become the oldest winner of The Masters
The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first ma ...
at 48 years old, 8 months, and 2 days. He received over 700 letters and emails in the aftermath of his playoff defeat, including a note from former President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
.
Perry won his second event of 2009 at the Travelers Championship
Traveler(s), traveller(s), The Traveler(s), or The Traveller(s) may refer to:
People Generic terms
*One engaged in travel
*Explorer, one who searches for the purpose of discovery of information or resources
*Nomad, a member of a community withou ...
in June, coming from one stroke behind Paul Goydos
Paul David Goydos (born June 20, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has played on the Ben Hogan Tour, PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.
Early life
Goydos was born and raised in Long Beach, California and is the youngest of three brothers ...
. Perry shot a final round 63 and won his 14th tour event, one win closer to his goal of 20 career wins. He won the event by three strokes over Goydos and fellow American David Toms
David Wayne Toms (born January 4, 1967) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. From 1992 to 2017, Toms was a member of the PGA Tour, where he won 13 events, including one major, the 2001 PGA Championship ...
. With the win he moved into a career high spot of four at the Official World Golf Ranking.
Perry is among the winningest and highest all-time PGA Tour money winners without a major championship, with fourteen wins and career earnings of over $32 million. His best major finishes are playoff losses at the 1996 PGA Championship and 2009 Masters Tournament
The 2009 Masters Tournament was the 73rd Masters Tournament, held April 9–12 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Ángel Cabrera, age 39, won his second major title in playoff over Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry. Cabrera became the ...
. For his success in leading the US to victory in the Ryder Cup, he and fellow Kentuckian J. B. Holmes
John Bradley "J.B." Holmes (born April 26, 1982) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.
Early life
Holmes, born in Campbellsville, Kentucky, began to play on the varsity golf team at Taylor County High School in Campbel ...
were named Kentuckians of the Year for 2008 by Kentucky Monthly
''Kentucky Monthly'' is a general interest regional magazine about the U.S. state of Kentucky and Kentuckians. Founded in 1998 by Stephen M. Vest, publisher, Michael Embry, editor, (who retired in 2006) and business manager Kay Vest, it featured ...
magazine. He is good friends with former World Number 1 player Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh ( hif, विजय सिंह ; born 22 February 1963), nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer. He has won 34 events on the PGA Tour, including three major championships: one Masters title (2000) and two ...
, who calls him "Biggie".
Perry began playing on the Champions Tour after turning 50 in August 2010 while continuing to play on the PGA Tour. He won his first event in October 2011 at the SAS Championship. He nearly withdrew from the event after learning of his sister's death. In 2011, Perry split his time between the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. He finished 15th on the Champions Tour money list playing in ten events. Although his focus was on the Champions Tour, he also had status on the PGA Tour until 2014 due to multiple wins in 2008 and 2009.
Perry won for the second time on the Champions Tour early in 2012 at the ACE Group Classic. He shot rounds of 64 and 62 on the first two days to break the 36 hole scoring record on the Champions Tour and after ending with a 2 under par round of 70, he tied the overall tournament scoring record at 20 under par.
Perry was given a special invitation from the PGA of America to compete in the 2014 PGA Championship, held in his home state of Kentucky and site of his 1996 playoff loss; he finished T27.
In 2015, he used a one-time exemption for being the top 25 of the career money list. He said he intended to play 18 events on the PGA Tour and only about seven on the Champions Tour, mainly the major tournaments.
Honors
In 1993, Perry was inducted into the Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame. In 1994, he was inducted in the Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...
Hall of Fame. He was named the winner of the 2002 Charles Bartlett Award, given to a professional golfer for his unselfish contributions to the betterment of society, by the Golf Writers Association of America. In 2007, Perry was inducted into the Western Kentucky University Hall of Distinguished Alumni. On October 14, 2008, Perry was inducted into Lipscomb University's Athletics Hall of Fame. He won the 2009 Payne Stewart Award
The Payne Stewart Award is an award given by the PGA Tour and presented by Southern Company since the award's inception in 2000. The award, given annually the week of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, is in honor of World Golf Hall of ...
.
On November 3, 2013, Perry clinched the 2013 Charles Schwab Cup
Listed below are recipients of awards for various achievements on PGA Tour Champions, a circuit operated by the U.S.-based PGA Tour for men's golfers aged 50 and over. The tour began in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, changed its name to the Champions ...
. He was also named 2013 Champions Tour Player of the Year.
Professional wins (27)
PGA Tour wins (14)
PGA Tour playoff record (3–3)
Other wins (3)
PGA Tour Champions wins (10)
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–4)
Results in major championships
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
WD = Withdrew
Summary
*Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (twice)
*Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (2003 U.S. Open – 2003 PGA)
Results in The Players Championship
CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships
1Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
Senior major championships
Wins (4)
Results timeline
''Results not in chronological order before 2021.''
CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
U.S. national team appearances
;Professional
*Presidents Cup
The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...
: 1996 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners), 2009 (winners)
* Ryder Cup: 2004, 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
(winners)
* Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing Champions Tour): 2008 (PGA Tour), 2010, 2011 (winners), 2013
See also
* 1986 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
*List of golfers with most PGA Tour Champions wins
This is a list of all the golfers who have won ten or more official events on the U.S.-based PGA Tour Champions (known as the Senior PGA Tour from 1980–2002 and Champions Tour from 2003–2015), the leading golf tour in the world for men aged 50 ...
References
External links
*
*
Lipscomb University press release
- on the occasion of the honoring of Perry's benefactor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Kenny
American male golfers
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers golfers
PGA Tour golfers
PGA Tour Champions golfers
Winners of senior major golf championships
Ryder Cup competitors for the United States
Golfers from Kentucky
Lone Oak High School (Kentucky) alumni
American members of the Churches of Christ
People from Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Sportspeople from Paducah, Kentucky
People from Franklin, Kentucky
1960 births
Living people