Perry's plan was criticized, but it paid off in the end

text size

Cox/Getty Images

Kenny Perry achieved his goal of making the U.S. Ryder Cup team, then went out and won his Sunday singles match.

Born and bred in the same state as many a Kentucky Derby stallion, Kenny Perry came up with a motivational game plan to make the Ryder Cup team. He felt his best chance to make the team would be to play where he had success before and not focus on the majors. Kenny knew that captain Paul Azinger wanted to have current winners on his team.

MORE MEMORIES

Singh not slowing down
One bad knee? Try two
Hart puts family first
Els for Autism Awareness
Staff essay archive
2008 Year in Review archive

His first opportunity to win came at THE PLAYERS Championship. Paired in the final group, Kenny shot a back-nine 43 on his way to posting a horrendous 81 to finish tied for 15th. The next week in Atlanta, during a playoff with Ryuji Imada, he lost when his 5-wood ricocheted off of a tree and into the water. If he wanted to win and be on that Ryder Cup team, he had to dig deeper.

At the Memorial, Kenny opened with a spectacular 66, but on Friday he bogeyed three of his first five holes. After hitting his second shot just short and left of the green on 15, he hit a miraculous pitch shot into the hole for an eagle. After the round, he described it as "the shot of my life." Kenny shot 69 on Sunday to win and he was finally one giant step closer to making the team.

As Kenny's destiny was starting to take shape so were the comments from some of his critics. The day after the Memorial was the 36-hole qualifier for the U.S. Open. Kenny hadn't signed up for it. The questions as to "why" started in the Memorial media room with none other than Jack Nicklaus sitting next to Kenny on the podium. Even Jack had to smile when Kenny basically said making the Ryder Cup team this year is more important than the majors.

Four weeks later Kenny found himself in contention again, this time at the Buick Open, another tournament he had won before. After a bogey on the easy par-5 13th, Kenny was falling behind. His next tee shot rolled into the greenside bunker, about 30 yards from the hole. On a low trajectory his next shot bounced once and boom, hit the flagstick, and dropped into the hole for an eagle. He was back in the tournament again.

While Kenny was waiting on the range striping shot after shot, Bubba Watson, needing a birdie on 18 to tie, hit a creative approach shot to 12 feet. He missed the putt, however, and Kenny had his second win of the year. Two weeks later, he won the John Deere Classic to secure his place on the team.

But he still had one more goal -- win back the Ryder Cup. We know how that turned out. And guess who won his singles match and was running around cheering and waving an American flag?

Larry Rinker, a broadcaster for the PGA TOUR Network, never played in a Ryder Cup but lived vicariously through Kenny Perry this year.