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DEL.ICIO.USUnlikeliest victor loses way
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Ponte Vedra, Fla. — Not that you asked, but Craig Perks will not be among us this weekend. So sad, for he had become sort of everybody’s poster child at The Players Championship. (Sorry, gents, but I like tradition, and besides, “The Players” doesn’t finish the sentence.) And in the middle of the second round Friday, he was looking so good, as if life’s puzzle had been solved. Red numbers began to decorate his line, and at the turn, he was three strokes inside the cut line. Then that ol’ debbil doubt began nibbling at his mind, as if he feared becoming famous again.
Bogey followed bogey after bogey, and an unheard sob arose among the TPC Sawgrass galleries. Something like this just isn’t right. With one flashing finish five years ago, Perks had eagled the 16th hole, dropped a long putt for birdie on the 17th, then chipped in for par on 18, and the crystal trophy, plus a check for $1,080,000 and the last remaining invitation to the Masters were his.
Who was this man with the quirky name? More to the point, what was he doing here, in this champion of champions, the “house” tournament? He was a combination of Kiwi and Cajun, from New Zealand to the U.S., eventually to settle in at the University of Southwestern Louisiana on a golf scholarship. Lafayette became his home, and, peculiarly, La Triomphe Golf Club his refuge as he slunk more deeply into the throes of defeat.
There has been, probably, no more unlikely champion of a tournament of such caliber. No player with such faint identity had beaten such a field as this. Even Jack Fleck, with whom his winning was compared, won tournaments after he beat Ben Hogan for the U.S. Open championship in 1955. Ben Curtis has won since he backed into his British Open, and Todd Hamilton had won before he beat Ernie Els at Troon.
But Perks, his background had mainly been Hooters and Nationwide.
But here was this tall, gangly Kiwi with the incandescent smile standing up there caressing the crystal that indicated he was the champion of all pros. And who did the presenting? Tiger Woods himself, defending champion, whose expression said, “What a finish!”
Curiously enough, last week in Charlotte, Perks, now 40 years old, found himself paired with Woods in the first two rounds of the Wachovia. When he won the TPC, at least he had a world rank of 256. Now, he had no rank at all because he had made no cuts and had made no points. He played miserably, 80-76, missed the cut, after which he said, “I was more embarrassed hitting those shots in front of Tiger than all those people watching.”
He went home to Lafayette, there to prepare for this week, his fifth — and last, as it would turn out — Players Championship. He had deposited only $ll,880 in tour earnings last year, this year not a red cent. The story is that Ian Baker-Finch, who himself had lost his game after winng the British Open, felt such a fatherly connection that he counseled Perks: “I have one piece of advice: Don’t change anything,” a story verified by Perks’ wife, Maureen.
Instead, as his woes deepened, he went from teacher to teacher. He made so many swing changes he couldn’t relocate the old one. He even turned to power-lifting. He once said, “You’ve got to be confident that you know where it’s going, and I have no idea.”
Well, this may be the last column written about Craig Perks. For a while, at least. This is the last year of the five-year exemption that comes with the crystal trophy. And here he was, tied with Woods after the first round, three strokes within the cut line halfway through the second, and it all went up in smoke on the back nine. Thus, he is left to cogitate what might have been.
He was close to walking away from it, gave it serious thought last year, when he wasn’t able to break 80. But the smile never left his Ichabod Crane-like features. But quit isn’t in him. “I’m proud of what I’ve done. I’ve worked hard. You just keep on and hope that something good will happen.”
It would put the smile on faces of several who gathered around to get his autograph and wish him well Saturday. He stood there signing and smiling for half an hour, knowing his bell had been tolled. The personality hasn’t been dented, for sure.
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By Rowndman
May 12, 2007 9:47 PM | Link to this
Furman, Your grasp of the english language is great and your talent for writing exceptional. Throw that in with the fact that your vocation is sports information and delivery and I feel very lucky each time you give us your insight on the sporting world.