Kenny Perry Is Looking for Some Redemption at the Zurich Classic

Less than two weeks ago, Kenny Perry walked towards the 17th tee box at Augusta National with a two stroke lead and what appeared to be firm grasp on the green jacket and his first major title.

Then the improbable happened.

Perry, who had gone 22 consecutive holes without carding a bogey, bogeyed the final two holes and then lost in a sudden death playoff to Argentinean Angel Cabrera. 

Perry caught a clear case of the major championship nerves and it was gut wrenchingly difficult to watch for two reasons.

First and foremost, it was difficult to watch a major championship slip through the fingers of a player who could only be described as one of the nicest men you will ever meet in the game of golf, or anywhere for that matter.

Second, was the way in which Perry’s collapse happened over the course of four consecutive holes (the final two holes in regulation and two sudden death playoff holes).  Perry, who is one of the best ball-strikers on the face of the planet, inexplicably seemed to forget how to hit his short irons down the stretch and missed four consecutive greens in regulation, which ultimately cost him a green jacket.

As unfortunate as it may be, the 2009 Masters will forever be remembered for Perry’s collapse down the stretch rather than for Angel Cabrera’s victory.  That is simply the world we live in and if you don’t believe that to be the case, simply look at Greg Norman, who is remembered far more vividly for his major championship meltdowns than for his two major titles and 87 worldwide wins.

That being said, over the past two weeks Kenny Perry has displayed a level of gracefulness and dignity in the face of the most heartbreaking defeat of his career, which should be commended and certainly not overlooked.

Under Perry’s own admission, as would be expected, tears have been shed over the past two weeks, but his spirit has been in no way shattered.  

Perry has received phone calls from Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson, each of whom know their fair share about overcoming heartbreak on the golf course.  He has also received letters from former president George W. Bush and thousands of other fans who simply wished to show their support for Perry and let him know how impressed they were with the grace in which he accepted defeat and walked out of Augusta National with his head held high.

Perry’s feeling of immense disappointment have not stopped him from cordially addressing fans and the media.  It has also not resulted in Perry moping around the golf course with his head down at this week’s Zurich Classic, which is his first PGA Tour event since that fateful Sunday afternoon almost two weeks ago.

As Perry walked to the first tee yesterday afternoon at the TPC Louisiana, he did so in a way that exuded pure self confidence and exhibited a man who is completely comfortable in his own skin.

Many players never fully recover from major championship meltdowns as severe and heartbreaking as Perry experienced at Augusta.

The wounds that these type of pressure induced meltdowns cause deep within a player’s heart and mind, are often far more severe than any physical injury a player may have to overcome during his career.

Only time will tell how Perry will ultimately recover from his disappointing loss at the 2009 Masters, but if his first two competitive rounds since the Masters are anything to go by, Perry is certainly on the right track.

Perry is five-under-par through his first two rounds, which currently places him in a tie for 21st and just five strokes off the lead heading into the weekend.

Although Perry had a disappointing finish to his second round, with a bogey and double bogey on his final two holes, five strokes back with 36-holes to play is an easily surmountable deficit, particularly with Perry’s red-hot putter.

Although there are very few accomplishments in the game of golf that could supersede a green jacket, if Perry continues to strike the ball and putt as well as he has been, it is only a matter of time before he achieves some form of redemption, which could even come as early as this week in New Orleans.

It takes a big man to suffer the worst defeat of his career and courteously and gracefully answer every question thrown at him from the media, but it takes an even bigger man to walk out on the course with his head held high less than two weeks after a heartbreaking defeat and perform the way Perry has thus far at the Zurich Classic.