SILVIS, Illinois – Kenny Perry continued his best run in more than two decades on the PGA TOUR, firing a 6-under 65 Thursday in the first round of the John Deere Classic that put him one stroke off the lead.
The 47-year-old Perry is right behind Ken Duke and Charlie Wi in a tie for third after winning two events last month. Woody Austin was in a group at 5 under, with 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson five strokes behind the leaders.
Play was delayed briefly in the morning due to lightning in the area and again for 1 hour, 55 minutes in the afternoon. Perry was gone by then and, maybe, back in bed.
Unable to fall asleep after his hotel fire alarm went off at 3:30 a.m., a bleary-eyed Perry had enough energy to birdie his first three holes at TPC Deere Run. He started on the par-5 No. 10 and drove a sand wedge to 18 feet, then hit a 9-iron within 11 feet on the par-4 11th before driving a 5-iron to 10 feet on the par-3 12th.
He missed a 15-foot birdie putt on his final hole that would have put him in a tie for first. Even so, it was another good round, one of many in recent weeks.
None like this, though.
Perry had a memorable four-tournament run in 2003, when he won at Colonial and the Memorial Tournament on back-to-back weeks and tied for third at the U.S. Open before taking first at the Greater Milwaukee Open a month later.
This one is approaching the two-month mark. It started when he lost a playoff to Ryuji Imada at the AT&T Classic in May and continued with victories at the Memorial and Buick Open last month. He usually plays well on those courses, and he’ll be at another favorite stop next week when he returns to Brown Deer Park Golf Course in Milwaukee next week.
Leaderboard – Round 1:
1. Ken Duke USA 64 – 7
Charlie Wi KOR 64 – 7
3. Garrett Willis USA 65 – 6
Kenny Perry USA 65 – 6
Eric Axley USA 65 – 6
Will MacKenzie USA 65 – 6
7. Cameron Beckman USA 65 – 6
Woody Austin USA 66 – 5
Patrick Sheenan USA 66 – 5
Michael Bradley USA 66 – 5
Chris Riley USA 66 – 5
Jeff Gove USA 66 – 5
Ryan Armour USA 66 – 5
Brad Adamonis USA 66 – 5