Kenny Perry loves good company. The amiable Kentuckian also enjoys golf and has made a nice living at its highest levels since 1986 when he earned his PGA Tour card.
Whether talking about preserving golf’s legacy with Arnold Palmer or picking Byron Nelson’s brain about his 11-win season, Perry’s ability to relate to his peers has been a hallmark of his 28 years on the PGA and Champions tours that have resulted in 22 tournament victories.
Though he played golf at two high schools in Kentucky, Perry didn’t take a formal lesson until his freshman year at Western Kentucky University. It took five years for him to win on the PGA Tour – at the 1991 Memorial Tournament – but the initial victory propelled him to great heights.
Perry always enjoyed spending time with Palmer and won the King’s event at Bay Hill in 2005. As a rookie, in 1986, Perry played a practice round with Palmer before the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in the Coachella Valley.
“During our round, I’ll never forget it, Mr. Palmer hit a drive about five yards past me and pushed his chest out and said, ‘Not bad for an old guy, huh?’” Perry recalled. “I was tripping out and said, ‘No sir, Mr. Palmer, you’ve still got it.’”
Perry, who won in the desert in 1995, also remembers Palmer encouraging him to be a good steward of the game.
“Arnie would always grab me by those Popeye forearms and say, ‘Please, just protect the game.’ He wanted me to keep growing it, protect it and cherish it,” Perry said. “I thought that was neat, and I was so lucky to win Bay Hill.”
Perry also had a close friendship with Nelson before the all-time great died in 2006.
“Hanging out with Byron Nelson was just really cool because he would sit me down and tell me stories about his 11-win season,” Perry said. “He would tell me details like what he had for lunch before the third round of his fourth win. His mind was so sharp it was remarkable.”
But as much as Perry loved playing in the Byron Nelson Classic – the tournament he “wanted to win the most” – he never added the event to his victory total.
Another tournament that eluded him was the Masters, where his best shot to slip on a green jacket came in 2009 when he bogeyed the 17th and 18th holes in the final round to fall into a tie with Chad Campbell and Angel Cabrera, who won on the second playoff hole.
“When I lost the Masters, man, that was heartbreaking,” Perry said. “But I get to smile again because I won three majors on the PGA Tour Champions. I guess they’ll never have the same weight of the Masters or my loss in the ’96 PGA Championship (also in a playoff, to Mark Brooks), but you can kind of soothe some of the wounds.”
Now in his eighth season on the senior circuit, Perry enjoys the camaraderie and competition among the elder set.
“It’s neat playing with all of the Hall of Famers, all of the guys that I looked up to when I came out in the 1980s and getting to hear their stories,” Perry said. “The PGA Tour Champions is very relaxed, laid back and very fun. I enjoy the heck out of it.”
The pressure of closing out tournaments doesn’t subside on the Champions circuit, he said, even if you’ve won big events before.
“You still have the same feelings in your gut when you’re coming down the stretch trying to win,” Perry said. “You’re still thinking it’s the biggest tournament of your life at that moment.”
A big personal moment will happen this year when Perry and his wife, Sandy, celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary.
“I’ve really worked hard at my craft, grinded at it and was always trying to give my kids a future,” he said about his children, Lesslye, Justin and Lindsey.
While his work at golf has paid off financially, Perry said it’s the other benefits of the game that have made him the person he is today.
“There’s nothing given on the PGA Tour,” he said. “You have to earn it; you’ve got to go out and get it. If you want to make your way out there you’ve got to outwork them and that’s what happened with me.”
