Perry's Flurry of Birdies Helps to Earn a Share of the Lead With Goodes to Open 3M Championship

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By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org


  BLAINE, Minn. – Looking for his second win of the 2017 season at the 3M Championship this week, two-time winner Kenny Perry fired a 7-under par 65 Friday at TPC Twin Cities to earn a share of the first round lead with Mike Goodes.

Perry used six consecutive birdies to begin his round Friday to jump to the top of the leaderboard before carding one bogey and one birdie over the final nine to shoot 65 and take a one-shot advantage with Goodes to the second round Saturday.

“I’ve never done that,” Perry said of opening with a flurry of birdies Friday, “It’s pretty neat to have something in your career after all these years that you’ve never done—what a way to start the tournament. I birdied the ninth to shoot 29 and I’m starting to think 59 and all these crazy numbers, but it stalled out on me on the back nine.

“I started trying too hard instead of letting it happen like I did on the front nine. I wasn’t thinking much about just hitting golf shots A to B. It’s funny how mentally you can get in your own way fast.”

Currently third in the Schwab Cup standings, Perry carded a 16-under par 264 in early July to win the 2017 U.S. Senior Open Championship at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass., to notch his fourth top-10 finish of the season.

Getting his putter going early Friday, Perry rolled in a 15-footer on his opening hole before sinking a 10-footer at the second to quickly move to 2-under for the championship.

A two-putt birdie at the par-5 third put Perry at 3-under and he would roll in putts from 20, 15 and 10 feet, respectively, to find the top of the leaderboard at 6-under through six holes. Converting his birdie look from 15 feet at the par-4 ninth, Perry turned at 7-under 29, missing Jeff Sluman’s mark of 28 on the front nine of the final round during the 2013 championship.

“You don’t shoot many of them—it was pretty neat to make the putt for 29,” Perry said.

Cooling off over his final nine holes, Perry blocked a 6-iron into the bunker right of the 17th green, failing to get up-and-down for par to drop back to 6-under, but answered by two-putting for birdie on the final hole to earn a share of the lead with a 65.

“It’s exciting to start out with six in a row and hopefully we can figure out how to get after that back nine a little better and play some good golf,” Perry said. “The golf course is going to play different tomorrow. I saw the wind is going to rotate around and be a southwest wind, so it’ll feel a little warmer and the ball ought to carry a little further.”

As the only back-to-back winner in the tournament’s history when he won the 2014 and 2015 championships, Perry said he expects to play better on courses he’s found success and feels comfortable.

“That’s kind of been my career. I won the Memorial three times; every time I stepped on the property at [Jack Nicklaus’] place in Columbus, I felt like I could win the tournament. I won the Colonial twice and felt like every time I stepped foot there I was going to play well.

“I’m a creature of habit—I’ve won here twice, so when I get to a golf course that suits my eye and suits my game, I seem to play well.”

On a day when several players went on longer birdie streaks, a solid and fundamental game put Goodes into a share of the lead with Perry after 18 holes. He missed just one green, made 29 putts and hit all 14 fairways.

“I played real nice and was hardly ever in jeopardy of making a bogey,” Goodes said after his round Friday. “I drove it right down—pretty much right down the middle of the fairway every hole. You walk off the tee a little more relaxed.”

Goodes rolled in a 15-footer for birdie at the two before sinking his three-footer for birdie at the sixth to quickly get to 2-under. At the eighth, Goodes converted a six foot birdie and followed it by rolling in a 15-foot putt for birdie to turn at 4-under for the championship.

He started his final nine Friday by dropping his five-foot birdie putt at the 10th to get to 5-under and rolled in another 15-footer at the 15th before finishing with a two-putt for birdie on the final hole to shoot 65.

Bringing momentum from a solid top-15 finish at The Senior Open Championship in Great Britain at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in horrid conditions last week, Goodes said he’s been hitting the ball well all season, but not scoring.

“I felt good coming in. I felt good the last few weeks playing, it just hasn’t shown a hundred percent. I felt like I was on the right track,” he said. “I drove the ball fantastic last week in all the wind and rain and everything. Then this course is so much different. It’s easier obviously and the scores show it. We’ll see what happens the next couple days.”

Through 13 events this season, Goodes is currently 61st in the Schwab Cup standings, amassing more than $139,000 in winnings. His only PGA Tour Champions victory came at the 2009 Allianz Championship.

Scott Verplank, Marco Dawson, Gene Sauers and Jay Haas each carded rounds of 66 Friday and will begin Saturday’s second round one shot off the lead as the top-10 players are separated by only two shots.

The second round of the 2017 3M Championship is scheduled to begin at 7:55 a.m. at TPC Twin Cities, followed by the Legends of Golf competition.



2017 3M CHAMPIONSHIP
TPC TWIN CITIES
BLAINE, MINN.
7,114 YARDS, PAR 72


FRIDAY’S FIRST ROUND RESULTS
T1. Kenny Perry, 29-36—65
T1. Mike Goodes, 32-33—65
T3. Scott Verplank, 31-35—66
T3. Marco Dawson, 32-34—66
T3. Gene Sauers, 32-34—66
T3. Jay Haas, 33-33—66
T7. Steve Flesch, 33-34—67
T7. Colin Montgomery, 35-32—67
T7. Michael Allen, 33-34—67
T7. Brandt Jobe, 32-35—67
T7. Michael Allen, 33-34—67

T12. TOM LEHMAN, 33-35—68
T75. JOHN HARRIS, 40-38—78


For complete tournament results go to: www.pgatour.com/champions/leaderboard.html