Perry open to criticism for skipping British

Kenny Perry never imagined facing so much criticism over where to play golf.

There was a time when he was desperate to play anywhere. He was 26, with two children in diapers and no money for a third attempt at qualifying for the PGA Tour. That's when he made a deal with an angel, Ronnie Ferguson, an elder at the Church of Christ in Franklin, Ky., who offered him $5,000 for one last shot at Q-school with one string attached.

If he failed, Perry didn't owe Ferguson a dime. But if he made it, Perry would give back 5 percent of his tour earnings to David Lipscomb University, a small Christian school in Nashville, Tenn.

That was 22 years and $25 million ago.

Over the years, Perry has collected 11 victories on the PGA Tour, including two in the last six weeks at the Memorial and the Buick Open. The kids who have gone to Lipscomb with help from his scholarship program have become teachers, nurses, youth ministers.

This is worth remembering as Perry gets buried next week for skipping the British Open, sticking to his original plan to play in Milwaukee.

As determined as he was to play golf for a living, Perry was equally tenacious about playing in the Ryder Cup at Valhalla, just up the road from his old Kentucky home.

"This is a lifetime opportunity for him," U.S. captain Paul Azinger said Monday.

Azinger is partly responsible for Perry essentially wrapping up a spot on this team so soon. He revamped the qualifying process to put more emphasis on the current year, which was a good thing for Perry. He was 79th on the money list last year, but already this year has two victories and a playoff loss and is No. 4 in the U.S. standings.

Consider what happened the only other time Perry played in the Ryder Cup. He qualified for the 2004 team based almost entirely on his 2003 performance, when he won three times. Not surprisingly, he played only two matches at Oakland Hills and lost them both.

Clearly, those memories linger.

"I told (wife) Sandy, this might be the worst thing I've ever wished for," Perry said. "I may play poorly and get drilled."

No need to wait for the Ryder Cup to get hammered.

There are plenty of guys who make a Ryder Cup team without winning a major. Perry might be the first to clinch a spot without having played in a major that year.

He wasn't eligible for the Masters. Then, he chose not to go through 36-hole qualifying for the U.S. Open the day after he won the Memorial because he was worn out. Besides, Perry said he has never played well at Torrey Pines and wanted to conserve his strength for PGA Tour events that would give him a better chance at winning, and making the Ryder Cup team.