Kenny Perry Breaks Scoring Record in ACE Classic Champions Tour Event
Naples, FL --Veteran Kenny Perry who was Rookie of the Year on the Champions Tour at the end of last season, set a new 36-hole scoring record of 18-under. The two rounds were shot on Friday and Saturday in the ACE Classic played at TwinEagles CC in Naples, FL. Amazingly, Perry’s score for the day was 62, matching the score Larry Mize shot in round one.
Mize won The Masters in 1987, chipping in on the second playoff hole to defeat Greg Norman.
Perry posted 20 birdies in the two rounds. His -18 score is two shots better than Bruce Fleischer’s -16 in the 2002 RJR Championship.
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“That's pretty shocking, to tell you the truth,” Perry said. Then he asked how many years the Champions Tour has been in existence, and was told 33 years. “You know, it's just amazing I can make 20 birdies in 36 holes. That's just phenomenal.”
Tom Lehman who is just two shots back of Perry, said he Friday that he was not surprised by Champions Tour players shooting low rounds.
“We were talking today, the PGA TOUR's little tagline, These Guys Are Good. Ours is, These Guys Are Still Good.”
Perry credited the greens, which he said were perfect.
“If you get it on line here, it goes in,” Perry said. “For whatever reason, this week they're going in, so hopefully we can get it in there one more day.”
Here’s what he did in round two to break the record:
Made a 25-footer on the first.
Sunk a 30-35-footer on the second.
On the fourth, he made and eight footer.
On the fifth, he hit to And then the par 5, I hit it relatively close to the hole and did the same on the 6th, leaving himself no more than three or four feet.
On eight, he hit a 6-iron to about 15 feet behind the hole and made it.
During the front nine, he parred the third, fifth, seventh and ninth.
At the 10th, he hit 5-wood, pitching wedge to six-eight feet and made it.
The 13th, a par 5, he hit driver, 4-iron just in the fringe left, chipped it up for a
tap-in birdie.
On the 14th, he hit a driver and a 9-iron, past the hole about 15 feet and made it.
He three-ptted the 15th hole for his only bogey.
He hit a 9-iron on the 16th to eight feet and made it.
At the 17th he drove it just in the rough, hit a pitching wedge second shot, leaving 80 yards and followed with a sand wedge in to about three feet.
On the final hole he hit driver and a pitching wedge to about 12 feet.
“It's been pretty remarkable,” Perry added. “Anything around the hole, I've been able to convert. I haven't left too many out there.”
In all, it was 11 birdies for the round. In round one he had a 64, with nine birdies and one bogey.
Perry is no stranger to low rounds. He shot a 63 at Colonial CC. He posted a 63 at Muirfield Village GC during The Memorial, which was a course record at the time. He shot a final round 63 to win the Travelers Championship with a tournament record of 258, the fourth-best 72-hole score in PGA Tour history.
During that tournament, he opened 61-61.
The all time Champions Tour low-54 hole scoring record is shared by Jack Nicklaus and John Cook, and the low 72 hole scoring record belongs to Jack Nicklaus.
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