Eyeing Repeat, Perry Surges into Lead at 3M; Lehman Drops to Fourth

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  BLAINE, Minn. – With a round that already included seven birdies and a hole-in-one, defending champion Kenny Perry rolled in a lengthy eagle putt on the final hole Saturday to card an 11-under par 61, taking a four-stroke lead after the second round of the 3M Championship at TPC Twin Cities.

Perry’s 61 breaks the previous second-round low and ties David Frost’s tournament record he set during the final round of the 2010 championship—which he won by seven shots.

“I birdied the first three holes right out of the gate—made three beautiful putts and that was the story of the day,” Perry said Saturday. “I had great touch and feel today for whatever reason, I’m not sure why it showed up today.”

“To birdie the first three and then hit a pretty 7-iron, you never think it’s going to go in the hole, and it went in. To start out 5-under through [four holes], I had an idea it might be a special day,” he said.

On Saturday Perry birdied his first three holes before knocking in his tee shot at the 188-yard, par-3 fourth hole to jump to 8-under for the championship.

With back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth holes, Perry would turn at 7-under for the round with a 25-foot putt to save par, narrowly missing Jeff Sluman’s nine-hole record of 28 during the final round in 2013.

Perry’s feverish birdie pace slowed only slightly on the back nine Saturday as he rolled in a birdie at the par-5 12th hole before adding his seventh birdie of the day at the par-3 17th.

Reaching the back of the 18th green in two, Perry dropped his 18-foot eagle putt, finishing the second round with a 61 to take a four-shot lead over Kevin Sutherland and Scott Dunlap.

“I had my moments where I was going gangbusters out there and then got in a lull, but shoot, it was a fantastic day,” Perry said. “I was five behind [Lehman], teeing off early and in that rocking chair seat and need to somehow shoot a low round to get in the golf tournament.

“It was a dream start, I was able to hang in there and add some more to it and actually get in position to win this thing tomorrow.”

Perry last carded a 61 during the opening round of the 2009 Traveler’s Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn.

Sutherland carded a 7-under par 65 Saturday to put himself into contention, beginning his second round with five consecutive birdies.

He would turn at 6-under for the round after another birdie at the ninth. With just one birdie over the final nine holes, Sutherland would finish his day at 65, tied for second at 134.

“I played really well early and made some nice putts,” Sutherland said following his round Saturday. “I still played pretty well the rest of the day but my putter cooled off on me. I had a lot of good chances but wasn’t able to make many.”

“I’m disappointed—it sounds funny to say that. I felt like I could’ve played quite a bit better than that, especially with the start I had. You think you can shoot in the low 60s and it was there, I just couldn’t find the putts. Tomorrow’s a new day and hopefully I’ll play better on the back side and I can make a run,” he said.

Tom Lehman, leader after the first round Friday, carded a 1-under par 71 Saturday and will begin the final round tied for fourth with Bernhard Langer and Marco Dawson at 135.

Minnesota Golf Hall of Famer, Don Berry, was 3-under par heading to the 17th hole during Friday’s opening round, but by the time Berry walked off the 18th green he was back to even par with a disappointing bogey-double-bogey finish to an otherwise solid round.

Berry, Brooklyn Park, Minn., responded with a 5-under par 67 Saturday and will begin the final round tied for 29th place at 139. 

“I played well yesterday until the last two holes and then just laid an egg,” Berry said of his opening round. “I hit the ball good today and I putted well. I’m putting pretty good right now so that makes me happy.”

Berry opened the second round Saturday with a bogey at the par-5 third hole before dropping three straight birdie chances to move to 2-under for the championship.

Taking advantage of his birdie look at the par-3 17th hole, Berry would get to 3-under before carding a bogey at the ninth to turn at 2-under. Rolling in three more birdies over the final nine holes Saturday, Berry would finish the day at 5-under par 67, tied for 29th.

“I hit some good irons and today the course was scoreable. Yesterday the wind made [No. 18] a tough hole as well as 17 and eight was a hard hole, so today was perfect,” Berry said.

Opening the championship with a 4-over par 76 Friday, Edina, Minn., native John Harris rolled in six consecutive birdies on his back nine Saturday to card a 7-under par 65 during the second round, jumping into a tie for 45th place at 141 with 18 holes to play.

“I did hit some good shots today but by the end of the day, you’re going to see some real low scores,” Harris said following his round Saturday.

Harris capitalized two early birdie chances Saturday to move to 2-over for the championship before stumbling at the fourth with a bogey.

He answered with a birdie at the fifth but would remain at 1-under for the round with a bogey at the sixth.

Turning at 2-under with his fourth birdie of the day at the par-4 ninth hole, Harris would heat up on the back nine rolling in six consecutive birdies starting at the 11th hole to move to 4-under for the championship, but would card 65 after a bogey at the par-3 17th hole.

Harris, one of three local players in this week’s field, said there’s more incentive to play well in front of the home crowd.

“I’ve got a lot of pride and I want to play well in front of the people that have been real supportive of my game. Today was fun for me and it’s been a while since I’ve played this well so I’m happy with the day,” he said.

“I played beautifully and I was going pretty good,” Harris said of his back nine. “I messed up a little bit coming in but I still hit a lot of nice shots for the day and made some nice putts. Hopefully tomorrow will be the same or better.”

Harris’ round Friday matches his best at the 3M Championship, shooting a 65 during the first round in 2007 as he would go on to finish third.

The final round of the 3M Championship is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Sunday at TPC Twin Cities.

For complete tournament results go to: www.pgatour.com/champions/tournaments/3m-championship/leaderboard.html