Thanks to hot putter, Perez cruises in third round

text size

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Those bogeys on the final two holes Saturday didn't exactly leave a good taste in Pat Perez's mouth.

Considering that 24 hours earlier, Perez wondered if he would even make the cut at the Wachovia Championship, the stumbling finish might be a tad easier to swallow, though.

Halleran/WireImage

Pat Perez enjoyed a stellar third round on Saturday.

RELATED

Video: Perez on his 65
Video: Perez's eagle on No. 15

Perez's round of 65 was the low round of the tournament to date and vaulted him into contention at 6 under. He played the front nine in 30, tying for the lowest ever at Quail Hollow Club, and finished more than two hours before the leaders teed off.

"I finally made a couple putts," Perez said. "It's out there. There was a little wind. The pins, except for a couple, like 8 was ridiculous, but the rest of them were pretty accessible. You can make some birdies out there."

When Perez left the course after three-putting the 18th hole to shoot 73 on Friday, though, he wasn't a happy camper. He thought he might be heading for Florida -- and next week's PLAYERS Championship -- early.

The fiery Perez, who has a pair of head covers that look like boxing gloves, even admitted to a few well-placed swipes at an unsuspecting trash can. He got a call that he had made the cut on the number, though, and he plotted his strategy with one of his friends.

"I told him, look, I promise you you're going to find at least three or four guys that come out and shoot 67, 66 and get right back in the tournament," said Perez, who was up at 5 a.m. for his 7:45 date with Charles Warren.

"It's going to blow in the afternoon and the guys are going to be right back in the tournament, and I just happen to be one of them. That's how it goes."

The last man to make the cut on the number and win a PGA TOUR event was Chris Couch at the 2006 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Perez, who like Couch that year, is looking for his first PGA TOUR win, would love to be the next.

If that happens, Perez will undoubtedly point to a putter that awoke from the doldrums on Saturday. He made eight birdies, one eagle and three bogeys while using just 25 putts.

Perez set the tone for the morning when he birdied his first four holes, and six of his first seven. The birdie putts ranged from 17 inches to 27 feet.

"That's what it is for me -- it's putting," Perez said. "I hit it as good as anybody. I'm going to hit it fine. I'm going to hit it in the fairway. I'm going to get it on the greens. You have to make your putts out here.

"The short game is the whole thing out here. Look at Adam Scott last week. Two huge clutch putts to win. That's what it takes. He could easily have missed that 9-footer and been over."

Of course, Perez didn't even need to use the flat stick on the par-5 15th when he holed a wedge from 81 yards.

"I knew it was going to be good," he recalled. "It's such a funnel area where that pin is, and I thought, I know I can get it to within six, eight feet. It hit perfect, and I thought it was going to spin and I assumed there was going to be a little bit of a roar, but I didn't expect it to go in. I'll take it."

A three-putt at the 17th and a drive into the fairway bunker at No. 18 -- two finishing holes he said are "right up there with TPC (Sawgrass)" in terms of difficulty -- cost Perez a chance at the course record, though. So it remains at 64, shot by Kirk Triplett (2004), Bo Van Pelt (2006) and Rory Sabbatini (2007).

Still, Perez knows he got everything out of his round. He's particularly pleased with the way he doggedly kept pushing forward after he got under par.

"That's what makes Tiger so unbelievable," Perez said. "If he's 1 under, if he's 10 under, he's still going to play as aggressive as he wants to -- and he should. He doesn't think about, oh, no, I'm 5 under, let's cozy in. He wants to get to 12. That's the thing. That's what I'm working on the most.

" ... Why not? You're playing good. Why get nervous? Let's make some more birdies. You've got to be aggressive. It's a cutthroat game. You've got to keep going for it."

Just like Perez did on Saturday.