Kenny Perry
Elizabethtown, Kentucky, United States
James Kenneth Perry (born August 10, 1960) is an American professional golfer.
Perry was born in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, but lived most of his formative years in Franklin, Kentucky, in Simpson County. He started high school at Franklin-Simpson High School, but transferred to Lone Oak High School in McCracken County, Kentucky, when his father’s job took him to work in nearby Paducah. After graduating from Lone Oak, Perry attended Western Kentucky University.
Perry turned professional in 1982. He failed in his first two attempts to qualify for the PGA Tour at Q-school. He missed by 1 stroke one year and received word that his wife had gone into labor during the fourth round the next year. He had been sponsored by a group of about twenty individuals, many local citizens from Franklin, in his early play on the mini-tours and his first two attempts at Q-school.
In 1985 a Franklin businessman and David Lipscomb University (now simply Lipscomb University) graduate loaned him $5000 for a last shot at Q-school. Rather than repay the loan, he was asked to give a percentage of his tour earnings to Lipscomb if he qualified. He tied for 40th at Q-school, earning his card with a two-shot cushion. Perry and his benefactor agreed on 5 percent, and he has maintained that commitment to Lipscomb ever since in the form of a scholarship for residents of Simpson County.
In Perry’s first few seasons, he found it a struggle to retain his qualified status. He made his first big (for the time) check on the PGA Tour ($55,000) with a T-4 finish at the Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational in May 1987. Shortly after that tournament, Kenny repaid all of the money put up by all of his original sponsors, even though he had no legal obligation to do so. Kenny got his first win in 1991 at the Memorial Tournament. Two more wins followed in the mid 1990s, another in 2001, and three victories in 2003.
Perry won in 2005 at the Bay Hill Invitational and the Bank of America Colonial. In 2006 he became the tenth man to reach US$20 million in PGA Tour career earnings in addition to taking an 8-week break from the tour to recover from knee surgery. He was in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for over 50 weeks from 2003 to 2005.1
Perry is a deacon in the Franklin, Kentucky, Church of Christ.
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