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Perry Recovered, Ready For Playoffs

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 21, 2008

PARAMUS, N.J. - Kenny Perry's eyesight is back to normal two weeks after a scratched and infected cornea knocked him out of the PGA Championship.

However, the three-time winner this year was a bit fuzzy on the retooled FedEx Cup points picture on the eve of The Barclays, the PGA Tour playoff opener at Ridgewood Country Club.

"What I think is kind of a bummer is, if I don't play well these three weeks, I won't be in the Tour Championship," Perry said Wednesday. "I mean, I've had a great year, and I think that's not right.

He later added: "I think you'll see somebody come deep and out of the pack that could actually win this thing, if I understand it correctly. I may not understand it correctly. I don't know. I really don't understand it anyway."

With top-seeded Tiger Woods sidelined by a knee injury, Perry is the leader with 99,500 points. Phil Mickelson is second at 99,250, followed by British Open and PGA winner Padraig Harrington at 99,000. Lee Janzen, the last of the 144 qualifiers, has 92,070 points - 7,430 behind Perry.

Last year in the inaugural playoffs, the gap between No. 1 and No. 144 was 15,300 points. The winner Sunday will get 11,000 points - 2,000 more than a year ago - and $1.26 million from the $7 million purse.

The top 120 players after The Barclays will be eligible for the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Mass. The field will then be cut to 70 for the BMW Championship in St. Louis and to 30 for the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Money Matters

British Open and PGA champion Padraig Harrington would love to win the FedEx Cup, but perhaps a bigger goal might not be realized until the end of October.

Harrington has a chance to become the first player to win the money title on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Irishman is leading the Order of Merit on the European tour by about $750,000 over Lee Westwood, and Harrington trails Tiger Woods by just under $1.5 million on the PGA Tour money list. Woods is out for the rest of the season. Harrington, Phil Mickelson and Kenny Perry are within about $280,000 of each other with four $7 million events to play.

"I've done it in Europe, and it would be very nice to do it in the States," said Harrington, who won the Order of Merit in 2006.

Playoff Schedules

Ernie Els and Adam Scott have played only 12 times on the PGA Tour, meaning they will have to play in three playoff events to reach the minimum 15 starts and retain their membership.

It should be no problem because Scott is No. 24 and Els is No. 28 in the FedEx Cup standings, and all they have to do is make the cut at either The Barclays or the Deutsche Bank Championship. But if they miss the cut in both events, there's a chance they'll be eliminated before the BMW Championship in St. Louis.

The other top player with only 12 starts is Padraig Harrington, although he gets to count the Ryder Cup toward his 15.

Stat Of The Week

Jerry Kelly was the only player to miss the cut in all four majors this year.

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