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Kenny Perry officially ends PGA Tour career with 14 wins, two near misses

By Doug Ferguson
Published on
Kenny Perry officially ends PGA Tour career with 14 wins, two near misses

 
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) – One more putt would have given Kenny Perry two extra days on the PGA Tour, though it wouldn't have changed a thing.
 
He wanted the Memorial to be his final PGA Tour event, and whether that ended on Friday or Sunday was irrelevant.
 
The Memorial was the first of his 14 career victories in 1991, and it proved that he belonged among the best players. Even so, he never imagined playing nearly 30 years without ever losing his card until he was on the Champions Tour.
 
He had two close calls in the majors. He won a Ryder Cup in his home state of Kentucky. And he ended his PGA Tour career at age 54 with just over $32 million in earnings.
 
The money is worth mentioning because Perry didn't have the $5,000 to pay for Q-School.
 
He was 26, married with two children, and already had failed Q-School twice. That's when Ronnie Ferguson, an elder at his church, agreed to pay his entry fee on one condition. If he failed, there was no need for Perry to repay him. If he made it, he asked Perry to give back 5 percent of his earnings. Perry set up a scholarship fund at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where Ferguson once played college golf.
 
"I always told my dad if I could win just one time, I've made it," Perry said. "To be able to survive 30 years out here competitively and not lose my card, I'm very proud of that. I'm a slow learner. I had some great moments really late in my career."
 
He won 11 times in his 40s, and in the year before he turned 50, he finished at No. 5 on the money list.
 
Of all the highlights, one that stood out came in his rookie season in 1987. In the Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational, his seventh event of the season, he hit a 4-iron to a foot on the final hole for a tap-in eagle.
 
"I remember Lee Trevino was announcing at the time, and that gave me enough money to solidify my card my rookie year," Perry said. "It was a lot of money for me. That one shot I'll never forget. I still feel it to this day. Magical shot, you know?"
 
Las Vegas had more prize money than all four majors and was only topped by a new tournament on the schedule now called the Tour Championship. That eagle gave Perry a tie for fourth and he earned $55,000, which was just over half his money for the year. He wound up with $107,239 to finish 93rd on the money list.
 
Perry, meanwhile, never put his name on the scholarship fund. It's still known as the Simpson County (Ky.) Scholarship Fund. And it's still growing. Perry already has won over $6 million since joining the Champions Tour.
 
Copyright (2015) Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. This article was written by Doug Ferguson from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.