Q. I'm glad you answer that had because I didn't want to have to ask you that question. Thanks for the volunteering that answer. Here's my question: Justin was here earlier and he said he thought the conditions of the golf course with the rain, little wind, played into your hands and golfers similar to you, like your observation on that.
KENNY PERRY: Well today the ball picked up a lot of mud and I hit the fairways. And it was nice to be able to play lift, clean and place. There's no way you're going to hit a shooter, you're going to be able to get a good lie, not going to hit a knuckle ball. And that was huge for me today. And then for me, I probably carry it further than most, there's a few out hit me. But my length was a huge advantage with the softer fairways and softer conditions. And the greens were very receptive. So I didn't have to really worry about the greens, a shot going over the green. I knew if I hit the green it was going to stay on it. So it really widened up the golf course today. It really did. It helped me. It made life a lot easier for me today.
Q. Can you tell us besides at that because could who are your other sponsors?
KENNY PERRY: My other sponsors? Titleist and Footjoy. For the ball and shoe. Tabasco and Corel, a software company. That's on my, that's on right here (Indicating) and Taylormade.
Q. You talked a little bit ago about the notion that when you're out here you lose a lot more than you win. Everybody does. Even Tiger for that matter. What keeps a guy going and believing he can win when the nature of the game is failure?
KENNY PERRY: It's the only thing I know. It's all I've ever done my whole life is play golf. Ever since I was a little kid I had a club in my hand. And that's all I've ever done. And at times I thought about retiring and it scared me to death because I didn't know what I could do to support my family. So I'm in situation, a stage in my life where I can help a lot of people. A good friend of mine said, with your job, with your wins, he says you can help so many people. And I give five percent of my earnings to David Lipscomb University each year, it's in a trust fund now and two kids from my town get a scholarship to a university. Which is a pretty neat deal. So I've been fortunate enough to just -- the money thing's not a big issue for me. To me it was always winning and trying to be the best. I'm a very competitive person. I want to win everything I do. If it's a board game or a basketball or anything, I want to be the winner. And my dad instilled that into me as a young age. And he always said, you're as good as you want to be. And he believed, he made me believe more in myself than I believed in myself. And it just seems like that's carried on with me through out my life and it just made me push harder and made me hungry.
Q. Saturday you talked that your wife picked out your Tabasco shirts for you, did she pick this out especially to match for the plaid jacket today?
KENNY PERRY: No, she was at home. This was my choice.
(Laughter.) Actually it was the only choice I had left. I had to do laundry if I was going to do anything else.
(Laughter.)
Q. You've had one good chance to win a Major championship. But I wonder now as time passed are you over that, if it affected you negatively and --
KENNY PERRY: Well at first it affected me for about two years. It was really hard on me for two years. But you know what, I'm a better player now than I was then. I'm physically, I matured more, I have more confidence in myself. So I wish I could be in that situation again now. But I was young, I never -- I was in my home state, it was just a lot happening. It was happening too fast and I couldn't slow it down. And for these last two rounds I was able to slow everything down. I slowed my swing down, my breathing down, I just slowed down. And I was able to hit great golf shots. And that meant a lot to me.
Q. It was 10 years ago that Colonial yielded two 61s, now 10 years later two more 61s, just talk about the significance of that and being the fact that you had one of them.
KENNY PERRY: Well it's always neat to have course records or be tied for them. But you know what, that's amazing stuff. You got pins that are three feet off the edges, you got bunkers, conditions, tough, long golf course, and it's just pretty neat how guys can excell under certain situations and shoot super low scores. The TOUR has really gotten, I just think in the last few years being, I don't know if it's equipment or what, the guys are getting in better shape or what, but the scores are getting better and better. And it's always neat to be a part of history, of records. So I'm sure somebody will break this record one day. It always happens. I didn't think somebody -- they broke my record at Muirfield. I never thought they would -- John Houston shot 61 there. I never thought that would ever happen so it's magical sometimes.
TODD BUDNICK: Let's go through the birdies starting with number 1.
KENNY PERRY: I hit a driver, 4-iron. 30 feet from the hole, was able to two putt.
Then I just hit all the greens the rest of the way and just 2-putted for pars.
And then 12 I hit a good drive and I hit a pitching wedge probably 10 feet from the hole. And I was able to make that.
13 was a super shot. I hit an 8-iron. Pin was up front. If I would have blocked it a little bit I could have hit it in the water or whatever. But I hit a tremendous golf shot. And I hit it in there probably six feet left of the hole and I was able to make that for birdie. And that really settled me down to where I knew it was my golf tournament.
TODD BUDNICK: Your only bogey over the last 60 holes on number 16.
KENNY PERRY: Yeah, it was 186 yards, kind of into the wind, and I didn't feel like the 6-iron was enough club, but I thought short was going to be letter than long. So I hit it in the front fringe. And that putt was faster than I thought. It was straight up the hill there and I ended up knocking it about three feet by and I missed that little one coming back. But I was, I liked the two putts I hit. It just didn't go in.
TODD BUDNICK: Any more questions?
Q. I noticed in the media guide where you helped build a public course back home. 12 bucks without a cart. 28 bucks with a cart. What's the lowest you ever shot on that course?
KENNY PERRY: I've shot 60 five times. I can't shoot 59 on any of them.
(Laughter.). But that's my home little course. I built it, my brother-in-law and I we did the whole project. We borrowed the money from the bank, me and him laid it out, we designed it, we built it. And we opened it in '95. It's been open eight years now. The town has really supported it. It's been a great project.
Q. Is that just something you felt the need to, kind of the giving back thing?
KENNY PERRY: Very much. Very much.
Q. How much does that sort of philosophy mean to you?
KENNY PERRY: Well it means everything to me. I feel better giving than receiving. I always have been. And this little golf course, I was raised on the nine hole private course there. There was only nine holes when I grew up. And so when I finally turned pro, and was doing pretty well out here, my brother-in-law got to thinking, anybody in my town had to drive 30 miles in any direction to play public golf. If you weren't a member of the country club, you didn't get to play. And I thought that was pretty unfair. And so our town really needed it. And that was something we ventured into and we did it and the town supported it. And it's been a great, I'm really proud of that little golf course. It's been a neat deal.
Q. Have you made enough money to pay it off now?
KENNY PERRY: It is paid off. We put two and a half million in it and we paid it off already.
Q. The Memorial coming up, what does this victory do for you going into a place where you won before?
KENNY PERRY: Well, I haven't been in this situation a lot, but I hope I can somehow get refocused and re-energized and get competitive again and not just go through the motions next week. I love that place. That place really solidified what I was doing on the Tour with my first win. And I beat Hale Irwin in a playoff. Just a lot of magical things happened that week. And I got a great family I stay with there and they make it a great week for me. And I just hope somehow I can get refocused and get in there and somehow get competitive again. Because it was a pretty neat deal getting in competition again and play as well as I did. So hopefully I can get refocused and get used to the greens. The greens are a lot faster there and hopefully I can play well.
Q. Your name wouldn't normally come up with a U.S. Open, but hitting so many fairways and so many greens this week and being in such control of your game, how do you feel going about three weeks from now into that situation?
KENNY PERRY: Well obviously if I can do that there I'm going to do real well. But I never played Olympia Fields. And you know what, you need a lot of local knowledge. I've always felt like that. I played here a lot, I feel very comfortable with this golf course. It seems hard to go in a place on Monday, grind yourself around there Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then not be physically mentally worn out on Thursday morning ready to play the golf tournament. So hopefully I can somehow make both ends meet and be rested and be ready to go and if I hit it as well as I did today, I'm going to do real well there.
Q. What's your brother-in-law's name?
KENNY PERRY: Bobby Bush.
Q. B U S H?
KENNY PERRY: Yes.
TODD BUDNICK: Okay. Thank you, Kenny, congratulations again on your victory at the 2003 Bank of America Colonial.
KENNY PERRY: Thank you.
End of FastScripts....
