Shooting for a Ryder Cup spot, Perry opens strong

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Just two strokes off the lead after the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship, Kenny Perry has his sights set on more than just a victory in the PGA TOUR's flagship tournament.

Kentucky native Kenny Perry really wants to make the Ryder Cup team, which will be contested in his home state later this year. (Condon/PGA TOUR)

Perry's first round

Stats Rnd1 Rank Eagles -- N/A Birdies 5 T6 Pars 12 T18 Bogeys 1 T124 Double bogeys -- N/A Other -- N/A Driving accuracy 71 T29 Driving distance 273.5 111 Putts per round 26 T54 Putts per GIR 1.615 T17 Greens in REG 72 T23 Sand saves -- N/A

THE PLAYERS can never be diminished; but this year, every event takes on greater significance for the Kentucky native, whose primary goal is to play for the U.S. team later this year in the 37th Ryder Cup -- which is to be contested at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., a few hours north of his home in Franklin.

"It's at the top of my list for the year, absolutely," Perry, 47, said.

Perry, who lost a playoff to Mark Brooks at the 1996 PGA Championship at Valhalla, would take a certain and solid step toward attaining that goal if he can continue to perform like he did Thursday at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

The nine-time TOUR winner opened with a relatively carefree 4-under-par 68 -- his second lowest round in THE PLAYERS -- to end up two strokes behind pacesetter Sergio Garcia. Perry converted five birdies against one bogey for his lowest opening round since he shot 65 in the '96 edition, where he finished tied for fourth, and he couldn't think of much to complain about.

"It was actually a very fun round of golf, pressure free. I like those kind," said Perry, who hit 10 fairways and 14 greens in regulation, though a couple of those misses were still on the fringes from which recoveries weren't difficult. "I wasn't sweating too much out there today. The ball was going where I was looking."

That hasn't been the case as much since Perry underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in 2006. He said he has struggled with low, left misses since then because he tends to move his head more on the backswing and then doesn't fire his right side as well on the downswing.

"It's something I just keep fighting," he admitted. "I had it figured out last year at Muirfield Village [and the Memorial Tournament], but it keeps creeping back in.

"Today, the ball was starting on line and going where I was looking, and it was just a very enjoyable day for me."

Perry, whose only other top-10 finish at THE PLAYERS was a tie for third in 2004, missed the first cut of the season at the Sony Open in Hawaii -- after U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Paul Azinger pulled him aside to tell him how much he was rooting for him to make the team -- but he has completed each of his 10 starts since. However, other than a tie for third at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, the high finishes have been lacking. Three top-25s have been the highlights.

Putting, he said, has been holding him back. He's used both a conventional putter and a belly putter this year but went with the shorter stick this week because he is more comfortable with it from outside 10 feet.

Having said that, Perry won't put all the blame on the implements. Apparently, a man with big goals in his sights isn't completely comfortable these days with what he's seeing.

"I just don't read the greens very good anymore. I don't know if I can't see, I don't know what it is," said Perry, who twice has undergone LASIK surgery. "I tell Sandy, my wife that, all the time; I say I just can't see the line like I used to for whatever reason. That's just what I've been struggling with."

He didn't struggle much on Thursday. He nailed a 35-footer at the third hole, which, he said, "really started it for me." A 20-footer on seven was followed by a three-foot birdie on the ninth. Two more birdies on the inward nine offset a bogey at the 13th when he over clubbed and failed to get up and down.

Still, he wasn't fully satisfied.

"I missed some close ones," he lamented. "I missed a close one on 6. I missed a close one on 12. I missed a close one on that 14th hole.

"And then, like on 15, I watched Nick Watney -- he chipped it in, he was in the fringe and I was a little long back there. Shoot, I saw the speed of the putt. Well, my first putt, I just blitzed it right on by eight feet past. What is that? I don't know, I don't get it right now why I hit those putts. It's not like I'm not nervous. It's like I can't see the speed of the green. I can't see the grass. I can't see the grain."

Yet, there he was at 68, in contention in the game's richest event. First place pays $1.71 million. Second place pays more than $1 million, a first on the PGA TOUR. Perry might not be seeing as well as he'd like, but he recognizes an opportunity, and he knows his game is solid.

"I'm very excited. That's the best round of golf I've played all year," he said. "I've played a lot of good rounds this year, but it just seemed like I was in there for all 18 holes today for some reason. [I was] a little more determined.

"I'm playing really, really well. I have been for some time, but today I didn't throw in any high numbers to hurt my score. Now I have to keep it going. And I think I can keep it going. That was a round that gives you some confidence, because you can see you are doing the right things, you're making shots that you expect to make."