Kenny Perry streaked eight shots clear of the field with a sizzling nine-under-par 61 in the third round of the Colonial PGA tournament on Saturday. The 42-year-old American, who began the day in a share of the lead with Dan Forsman, raced ahead of his title rivals with a 17-under total of 193.
First-round leader Rory Sabbatini (67) of South Africa was second on 201, followed by Jim Furyk (69) another stroke back. US Ryder Cup captain Hal Sutton (65), Stewart Cink (66) and Jeff Sluman (67) were tied for fourth place on 203.
Perry sped to the turn in six-under 29 at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, before picking up three more shots on the back nine to record his best round in 17 years on the PGA Tour. The veteran, who has four tour victories to his credit, admitted thoughts of 59 flashed through his mind more than once on Saturday.
"When I had the birdie putt on 15, I'm thinking if I can make this putt, I've got a very good shot at shooting 59," revealed Perry who opened and closed the front nine with bursts of three straight birdies, and birdied 11, 14 and 17 coming in. He missed the 12-footer for birdie at 15, and a 10-footer at 16.
"After I missed that little putt on 16, I knew it was virtually impossible," Perry said of a sub-60 round. But he enjoyed limelight, which he said hasn't come his way too often.
He added: "They cheered me really hard from the 10th tee on. I really felt a lot of support from the gallery today. You don't get that much. I'm a lesser-known player out here. But I've earned my way, and it's nice to finally have the crowd on my side. They were really rooting for me, they all kept saying 'make another birdie, come on, 59, you can shoot 59. That kind of kept that notion in my head, too."
His 61 tied Keith Clearwater, Lee Janzen and Greg Kraft for the lowest at the Colonial. His 17-under 193 also improved the 54-hole tournament mark shared by Scott Simpson and David Ogrin by one.
Filed by Shane Murray
