Win puts Perry on road to Ryder Cup
Kentucky, Kenny Perry is coming home.
Perry shot a 6-under-par 66 yesterday to win the Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Mich., by a stroke at 19 under, likely locking up a spot on the Ryder Cup team that will face Europe at Valhalla about 40 miles from his birthplace.
"I'm ecstatic," he said. "It really won't sink in until I'm actually putting on the red, white and blue."
Perry was amazed he won at Warwick Hills for a second time because Woody Austin closed with consecutive bogeys to blow the tournament and Bubba Watson just missed a 12-footer that would've forced a playoff.
While Perry was on the driving range, he backed into earning $900,000.
"I still can't believe I won," he said. "I feel like I need to go make a birdie out there to win."
Austin and Watson shot 68s.
The 47-year-old Perry joined Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as the only multiple winners this year on the PGA Tour, became the oldest player to win at Warwick Hills, and joined a short list of multiple champions at the 50th Buick Open.
Vijay Singh has three Buick Open titles, while Woods, Julius Boros, Tony Lema, and Perry have two.
"It's always nice to have your name associated with the greats of the game," Perry said. "I'm just hanging onto the shirttails.
"I'm the guy that's going to get their clubs out of the trunks of their car."
Austin sounded like he wanted to hide in a trunk.
He became the leader by curling a 9-footer in at the 16th, then fell back into a tie by missing a 13-foot putt for par on the next hole. Austin three-putted from 63 feet to close the tournament and put Perry ahead.
"I threw it away," said Austin, whose demonstrative ways led him to cup a ball and slam it against the wood board marking the seventh tee. "I didn't hit the ball close enough to the hole the last two holes to counteract my yips. I've got to figure it out or I'd better quit."
Champions - Loren Roberts shot a 3-under 68 to cap a one-stroke victory over Nick Price and Lonnie Nielsen in the Commerce Bank Championship in East Meadow, N.Y.
Roberts finished 12-under 201 to give him his eighth title on the over-50 circuit, matching his total from his PGA Tour career.
Price matched the tournament's low round with a 65 and finished tied for second with Nielsen (66), the defending champion.
Jeff Sluman (66) and Gene Jones (67) were another stroke back at the 7,072-yard Red Course at Eisenhower Park.
European - Pablo Larrazabal won the French Open for his first victory on the tour, closing with a 4-under 67 (15-under 269 total) to beat Colin Montgomerie (68) by four strokes at Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines.
