Kenny Perry Suffers a Heartbreaking Defeat at the 2009 Masters

The 2009 Masters finally provided those deafening Sunday afternoon roars that had been so sorely missed around Augusta National in recent years.

To simply say that Sunday afternoon at Augusta was exciting is a severe understatement.

Yet the way in which the tournament finally concluded has left many feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

Angel Cabrera was nothing at all short of a gracious, humble champion.

That being said, it was difficult not to hang your head in defeat along with Kenny Perry and feel just a fraction of the disappointment that is sure to plague him for years to come.

Perry would have become the oldest player to have ever won a major championship and the way in which he has completely turned his career around over the past two years is an inspiration to all of those tour professionals in their mid-40s who are right now contemplating their futures on the PGA Tour.

Just two years shy of being eligible for the Champions Tour, Kenny Perry entered the 2008 season with a single goal in mind—to make the 2008 American Ryder Cup team.

The matches were scheduled to take place in September at Valhalla, just 90 miles from Perry’s hometown of Franklin, Ky. 

Prior to the 2008 season, had Perry’s aspirations of earning a spot on Paul Azinger’s 2008 Ryder Cup at 48 years old been publicly known, most would have thought that Perry’s mind was beginning to go in his old age.

But then something funny happened. 

Perry began winning, and before we knew it he was topping the PGA Tour’s money list, the FedEx Cup standings, and eventually achieved a career-long dream by earning a spot on the 2008 Ryder Cup team. 

Earning his way onto the team was just the first part of Perry’s ultimate dream; winning the Ryder Cup and performing well in front of his friends and family was the second part.

The American team, of course, regained the Ryder Cup for the first time in nearly a decade, and Perry played a central role in the shocking upset.

Perry earned 2.5 points for the American side and his week came to a heartwarming close when he defeated Henrik Stenson on the 17th hole of his Sunday singles match and literally walked off into the sunset with his family and what appeared to be around a thousand of his closest friends from Franklin, Ky.

Perry has donated extremely large amounts of money to the Franklin community and even opened up the town’s first 18-hole golf course through a combination of his own money and personal loans that he himself had taken on.

Perry has always been known as one of the truly good guys on the PGA Tour, and as much as he may deny it, he is an outstanding golfer.  After all, you don't win 13 PGA Tour events and compete on several Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams without being one of the best players in the world.  

As Perry hit his tee shot to within one foot on the 16th hole at Augusta Sunday afternoon to take a two-stroke lead with just two to play, it appeared that this genuine guy from the small town of Franklin, Ky., was going to be rewarded with his first major championship at the age of 48.

What came next was, well, difficult to watch.  

After 22 consecutive holes without a bogey, the pressure visibly began to grab hold of Perry.

Following a perfect drive on the par-four 17th, Perry hit his approach shot long and then chipped back over the green before two-putting from the fringe for a bogey.

Not the biggest deal in the world as Perry still held a one-stroke lead, but the weight of the pressure upon Perry’s back certainly began to mount as he headed to the 18th tee.

Perry, who had been driving the ball beautifully all week, found the bunker on the left side of the 18th fairway with his tee shot. 

He managed to get the ball out of the bunker cleanly, but missed the green to the left side, which happened to be the side that should have been avoided at all costs on Sunday.

Perry was left short-sided and made a great shot just to give himself a 10-foot putt for par and his first green jacket. 

Perry missed the putt by inches. In a matter of 30 minutes, he went from being within a hair of Trevor Immelman helping him into a green jacket in Butler Cabin, to being in a three-way sudden-death playoff with Angel Cabrera and Chad Campbell.

Campbell was eliminated with a bogey on the first hole of the playoff, thus leaving only Perry and Cabrera left to battle it out for the 2009 Masters title.

After another perfect drive on the 10th, which was the second hole played in the sudden-death playoff, Perry again struck a short iron terribly and missed the green to the left by about 15 yards. 

Cabrera hit his approach shot to within ten feet and after Perry was unable to get up and down, Cabrera tapped in for par and his second major championship victory in the past three years.

As Perry came through the 16th and went on his way to what most would have thought to be a victory walk up the 17th and 18th, it seemed as if all of Augusta, Ga., was pulling for this kind, mild-mannered man to capture his first major title.

It is always difficult to watch any player melt down and let the pressure get the best of him.  But, normally major-championship meltdowns take place within the span of a hole or two and are over and done with rather quickly.

For more than an hour, fans had to sit by and watch Perry let the 2009 Masters slip right through his hands.

Watching Perry bogey the 17th put fans on the edge of their seats, as things had just gotten interesting with one hole to play.

Perry’s bogey at 18 was exceptionally difficult to watch, as this likeable character had just let a two-stroke lead completely disintegrate on the final two holes.

Then, as if what had just happened wasn’t heartbreaking enough, Perry once again was given an opening on the first playoff hole but managed to completely push his short-iron approach shot well right of the green.

The heartbreak continued.

On the second hole of the playoff, Perry once again had a short iron in his hand and once again did not even come close to hitting the green. 

Professional golfers are human, of course.  However, it is not often that you see a man who is leading the Masters by two strokes with just two holes to play go from playing nearly perfect golf to almost forgetting how to hit his short irons.

Don’t get me wrong, Cabrera is an absolutely gracious and worthy champion and he was the one guy that came through when the heat was on.

As would be expected from a man like Kenny Perry, he remained cordial in defeat and kept his head held high.

But, what happened to Kenny Perry Sunday afternoon was utterly and completely heartbreaking and is something that will undoubtedly haunt Perry and his fans for many, many years to come.