AUGUSTA, Ga. — Kenny Perry had his best moment in golf when he helped lead the United States to a win in last year’s Ryder Cup in his home state of Kentucky.
The 48-year-old might have had his worst moment Sunday.
Two holes away from being the oldest major winner in golf history, Perry bogeyed the final two holes of the Masters and eventually lost to Angel Cabrera on the second playoff hole.
“I had the tournament to win,” Perry said. “I lost the tournament.”
Perry couldn’t recover from his wild second shot on the second playoff hole, hitting a poor chip that left him with a lengthy par putt that he missed.
Instead of claiming his first major, Perry lost for the second time in a major championship playoff, following his loss to Mark Brooks in the 1996 PGA at Valhalla Country Club.
“I just didn’t get the job done again, and I’ll look back the rest of my life saying, ‘What could have been,’ ” Perry said.
Perry seemed in cruise control after parring the first 11 holes. He missed at least three makable birdie putts in that stretch but finally came through with birdies on Nos. 12 and 15 to get to 13-under and lead Chad Campbell by a stroke. On the par-3 16th, Perry hit one of the great shots in tournament history when he stuck his tee shot within a foot of the cup. His birdie tap-in gave him a two-shot lead with two holes to play.
But Perry hit a bad chip that resulted in a bogey on No. 17 and then hit his tee shot in the fairway bunker on No. 18. He had a makable par putt to save par on the 72nd hole to win, but he missed a few inches to the left.
“I had that putt on 18 that I’ve seen Tiger make; I’ve seen so many people make that putt,” Perry said. “I knew exactly what it was. That was probably the most disappointing putt of the day because I hit it too easy. You know what, you’ve got to give that putt a run.”
Playoffs
A list of recent sudden-death playoffs at the Masters:
2009 — Angel Cabrera def. Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell (second playoff hole)
2005 — Tiger Woods def. Chris Di- Marco (first hole)
2003 — Mike Weir def. Len Mattiace (first hole)
1990 — Nick Faldo def. Raymond Floyd (second hole)
1989 — Nick Faldo def. Scott Hoch (second hole)
1987 — Larry Mize def. Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman (second hole)
1982 — Craig Stadler def. Dan Pohl (first hole)
1979 — Fuzzy Zoeller def. Ed Sneed and Tom Watson (second hole)
