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TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP

June 18, 2008

Kenny Perry

CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT

CHRIS REIMER: Thanks for coming in and joining us for a couple minutes here. First off, just kind of talk a little bit about your season and where you're at so far.
KENNY PERRY: Well, it's been a great season for me. I've made 15 our of 16 cuts, missed my first cut of the year and then made 15 straight, had a great run the last month, bad round at TPC on Sunday, 81, there, but then I lose in the playoff to Ryuji in Atlanta and then win the Memorial. And didn't qualify -- well, I didn't choose to go to the 36-hole qualifier for the Open, so I've had a nice week off, rested, and ready to go again.

Q. Is this a course you enjoy?
KENNY PERRY: Yeah, I enjoy playing here. I enjoy the people. The family I've stayed with here for 22 years, I've watched their children grow up and now they're having kids. I feel old.
So this is just a great week for me to come up, and it's very relaxing. It reminds me a lot of home, so I always enjoy coming here.

Q. Kenny, word just came down that Tiger Woods is going to miss the rest of the season with reconstructive knee surgery. Can we just get some reaction what that means for the Tour and the players?
KENNY PERRY: Well, it's going to be tough for the sponsors, I think, and the Tour. Definitely, Tiger is our tour, and when you lose your star player, it definitely hurts. There's no question about it.
I feel bad now. I thought he was kind of -- watching him, I thought it was more drama than actually being hurt. I was talking to people, and now to hear he's got a torn ACL and a stress fracture or something or whatever, for a man to endure all that, it's pretty incredible what he accomplished. We just hope he gets well and gets back out here.

Q. Given that it's unfortunate what happened, does the rest of the Tour say, well, okay, he's not going to be here. It's our chance to --
KENNY PERRY: It's definitely an opportunity for us, for sure. You know, but still, you know, you want to beat the best. I think any of the competitors out here, you know, when you're playing, you want to have Tiger in the field, because if you beat a field with Tiger in it, you've beat the best field out there probably, because most of the time all the other big stars are with him.
So it's going to be funny playing the majors now and the world events, Bridgestone, where he's won so many times there in Akron and not seeing him around. You know, it's going to -- the Tour will definitely -- it'll probably come down a notch a little. It won't have definitely near the excitement that it normally has and carries that he brings. But it definitely will give the rest of us an opportunity. Now, I guess, you know, now the Fed Ex, I guess -- I don't know if he's made enough points to already win it, but I guess somebody will catch him now. So there will be things, you know, things will change and there will be different goals for players now to try to achieve and definitely some opportunities for us.

Q. Just think about this now. I mean his spot in the Ryder Cup opens up now, too.
KENNY PERRY: I hate that, you know.

Q. It will be a devastating hole for the U. S., don't you think?
KENNY PERRY: I think so, very much. He's definitely our best player, and to lose him off our team, to lose that fear factor, to lose that dominance. I know he makes the other guys nervous when they see they gotta play Tiger. They also get fired up, too. You always want to play the best, but it's always a tough task to try to beat him.
But I am trying to make that Ryder Cup team. But still, it's a long three more months. So I've gotta play well, earn enough points to try to make that Top 8. But since he's out -- and I don't want him out. I enjoyed the Ryder Cup. I played with him on it and the three President's Cup teams. He was on those, and he's just a good friend and a good guy to hang out with and we're going to miss his spark.

Q. Tiger, of course, this last week won the U.S. Open, but the players were pretty happy with the setup and it seemed like a fair setup. Do you personally have any regrets about not giving it a shot since it wasn't like a five --
KENNY PERRY: The U.S. Open, yeah, definitely. When I saw the rough was the way it was, the gradual, whatever that was, and you know, normally U.S. Open you just miss the fairway, you're in the heavy stuff and you're just chopping out. Well, actually they allowed the guys the potential to play this year.
And you know, when I missed, I usually just barely miss the drivers to strengthen my game and I usually drive it pretty good, but when I miss, I just miss by a little and I was always in the hedgy stuff.
So yeah, I did -- when I saw that and heard the guys talking about it, it kind of hurt a little bit that I wasn't there. But you don't know that going in, so you know.

Q. Talk about the field this week, obviously the week after the U.S. Open --
KENNY PERRY: It's better than I thought. I think it's a pretty strong field. I was quite impressed with the guys who decided to come here. So I think The Travelers would be happy.

Q. What goes into a decision like that after a major? Obviously you didn't have to make that decision this year, but what goes into a decision to come to a place and what does this Tour do to attract people?
KENNY PERRY: I think one thing is travel. To go from San Diego to Hartford, it's tough to get here. You'll see guys withdraw because of the mental fatigue of an Open and then it's tough travel to get here. Just for this year that would make it hard.
A lot of guys would like to come if they played poor at the Open. They want to get back in the hot seat and play again. If they miss the cut, they may change their mind and come on and want to play.
Then you get your Roccos, who have a great week, and they say they're mentally tired and don't want to come and play, so they withdraw. I don't know. I guess it depends on the player, the way he's feeling and thinking at the time.

Q. Does Rocco's success as a veteran kind of give you a sense that, hey, it's not the young guys who are going to win the majors all the time, a guy with a little more experience, maybe not the best physical fitness routine --
KENNY PERRY: I think so. I always thought I could win an Open. I drive it good enough to win an Open. My short game is always what's held me back. I'm not, to me, a good enough putter. And Rocco looks like he made everything. Looks like it was a week for him on the greens. And that's typical of a major. You've gotta putt great. Most of the time the winner only has about one three-putt for the week and averages 25, 26 putts, so it's an incredible week for them.
I noticed they called him a mid-ager. I like that, instead of an old guy.

Q. Can you talk about the Ryder Cup, and I know it's so important to you because you're focused. Talk about that and the importance to you.
KENNY PERRY: That's how I set my whole season up. All the tournaments I've decided to play this year are usually tournaments I've had a little success at, and I enjoy going to. I try to put myself out here in enough opportunities to earn enough points to make the Ryder Cup team. That was my only goal this year.
And being at Valhalla and I lost the Playoffs there in '96 to Mark Brooks. It's a Nicklaus course, which I love. I enjoy playing all Nicklaus courses, and it's a golf course that fits my game, and I just thought it would be neat, being a 22-year veteran out here and I've pretty much done everything, I've achieved a lot of things, but I haven't -- I've won a major. I'd love to represent my country in my home state, so that was always a huge goal of mine to get to Valhalla here, so that's why I've been very motivated, kind of stayed with my game, practiced hard each and every day and stayed with it. And if I don't make it, I can live with that, but if I do, it's going to be a nice feeling.

Q. Would you say you're closer to getting that goal than you thought you'd be at this point or are you right on schedule?
KENNY PERRY: Well, you know, I told somebody -- I told a couple of my buddies at the beginning of the year, I thought I could win a tournament again this year, and I really thought I had a good shot of making that team. I can't say that I was going to achieve that goal, but it was definitely the No. 1 goal and it was definitely something I thought I could obtain, you know. I really thought I could do it. So I'm on a good pace. I'm on a good schedule. I just need to figure out a way these next three months to get back in that winner's circle again and solidify my spot.

Q. Would it lock it up with another win?
KENNY PERRY: It would get me really close. I think that would be close to enough points to make that team.

Q. Why do you play well at this course?
KENNY PERRY: It's a good driver's golf course. I like it because you've gotta drive the ball great here. You've got the little par-4 15. That's a risk-reward hole. 17's tight. 18's tight. 15 -- 13, the par-5 is a great driving hole. You hit that fairway, you've got a great shot of knocking off two and making eagle there. You know, just the driver sets this whole golf course up, and I enjoy playing courses where my lines all feel good. I feel comfortable eyesight wise looking at the holes, and I know I gotta hit the fairway with the driver.

Q. Kenny, do you know what your schedule is for the next month or so?
KENNY PERRY: I'm going to play here and I'll play next week, but after that I'm not real sure. I probably won't go to Tiger's tournament. I'm not sure. I'm just going to see how these two weeks go and that'll kind of affect my schedule.

Q. British Open?
KENNY PERRY: Probably no British Open. I always play well at Milwaukee. I've won there. But we'll see.

End of FastScripts

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