DUBLIN, Ohio — Kenny Perry’s sole purpose on the PGA Tour this year is to go home to Kentucky for the Ryder Cup.
He took a big step Sunday by winning on a course that feels like home.
“Magic always happens for me here,” Perry said after closing with a 3-under-par 69 to pull away from the pack for a two-shot win at the Memorial.
As other contenders were in full retreat on the back nine at Muirfield Village, Perry surged ahead with two clutch par saves, a 5-wood that set up an easy birdie, and hardly any mistakes to win for the first time in three years.
It could not have come at a better time.
Perry squandered two good chances to win in the previous three weeks, closing with an 81 at The Players Championship and watching in utter shock as a fairway metal ricocheted off a tree and into the water to lose a playoff outside Atlanta.
And when he arrived at the Memorial, he heard Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger say that it would take nothing short of winning for a player to make the U.S. team at Valhalla. The message came through as clear as the blue skies over Muirfield Village.
“My time is running out,” Perry said Sunday. “It’s getting close to September. I said, ‘You need to make it happen, and you need to make it happen fast.’ And to be able to get the win here is huge.”
Lee wins in playoff
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — Sophie Gustafson’s stunning collapse and Karrie Webb’s short playoff miss opened the way for Seon Hwa Lee to come from nine shots back and win the Ginn Tribute.
Lee two-putted from about 45 feet for par on the lone playoff hole, the 18th, then watched LPGA Hall of Famer Webb miss a 3-footer.
Holding a six-shot lead when the day began, Gustafson shot a 7-over 79.
Footnotes.
Jay Haas shot a 6-under 65 to repeat as champion of the Principal Charity Classic in West Des Moines, Iowa, and move into first place on the Champions Tour money list.
• Scott Strange got his first European Tour victory by leading the Wales Open from start to finish, shooting a 7-under 64 to win by four strokes in Newport.
• The United States won the Curtis Cup for the sixth straight time, defeating Great Britain & Ireland 13-7 in St. Andrews, Scotland.
