Na disappointed by finish, but optimistic about future

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Kevin Na just missed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole that would have earned him a spot in the FBR Open playoff.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- In the end, there was nothing Charley Hoffman, Kevin Na and a host of challengers could do to keep Kenny Perry from becoming the oldest champion ever of the FBR Open.

Hoffman tried by taking the 48-year-old Perry into three extra holes of sudden death at the TPC Scottsdale. So did Kevin Na, who missed a short birdie on the final hole that would have been good enough to join the playoff. And rookies like James Nitties and Scott Piercy along with proven winners David Toms, Matt Kuchar and Brian Gay also gave it their best shots.

But for some strange reason Perry's 2-under-par 69 and 14-under 270 total was good enough on a day when no one could muster much offense. Most of the fans were long gone to watch their beloved Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl by the time Perry finally ended the 5 ½-hour round with a one-putt birdie at the third playoff hole (No. 17) -- his first one-putt birdie since the very first hole.

By then, the Pittsburgh Steelers had already scored.

"The greens were crusty and fast. They were hard to make putts on and it was hard to get shots close to the hole,'' said Hoffman in an apparent attempt to explain why nobody could go low on a day that featured perfect conditions for scoring on a course that usually gives up some seriously low numbers.

"He did what he needed to do to win. He's a great player.''

Julius Boros at 46 had been the oldest player to win the FBR Open back in 1967 when it was called the Phoenix Open. What's slightly odd is that Perry just seems to get better with age, as he recorded his 10th PGA TOUR victory in his 40s, but just his 13th overall.

"I gave myself a bunch of (birdie) chances coming down the stretch (at Nos. 16, 17 and 18), but they just didn't fall,'' said Hoffman, whose closing 67 wasn't quite good enough for his second PGA TOUR win to go with the 2007 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer.

"I gave him a few opportunities, too, and he closed the door.''

Na, who has now knocked on the door three times at the FBR Open while looking for his first PGA TOUR win, also was kicking himself for not holing an 8-foot birdie on the last hole. Unlike Hoffman, who seemed to take a ho-hum approach to the setback, Na was visibly upset with his third-place finish to go with a tie for fourth here last year and a runner-up finish in 2005.

"I'm kind of upset. I gave it my best,'' said Na, who closed with a 68 to come up one shot shy. "I couldn't have hit it any worse; I was all over the (parking) lot, but I hung in there with a great short game.''

Na said the last putt that kept him from the OT was aimed in the right-center side of the cup but he didn't hit it firm enough.

"I hit a good putt, but what can you do?'' he mused. "I just misread the green.''

But he didn't misread his fighting spirit, he added.

"I'm going to win here someday,'' Na said, jaw out. "Next year. I'm going to win here multiple times when my career is over, that's for sure.''

Besides, Na added, he has to justify the nickname given to him by fellow PGA TOUR player Mark Wilson.

"He calls me Kevin Arizo-NA,'' he said, finally managing to break into a smile.

Nitties, who finished tied for fourth with Toms after a 68, also was able to find a silver lining in his failure to overtake the plodding Perry, whose 13 pars all seemed routine.

"In the end it was a good week,'' reported Nitties, the rookie and former Big Break contestant who finished No. 2 in PGA TOUR qualifying school but missed his first two cuts this season.

"It gives me tons of confidence. I've sort of proven to myself that I'm meant to be out here. I felt like I should have won by a couple out there -- that's how I was hitting it -- but it also made me realize that I'm worthy of playing on the PGA TOUR.''

Toms, who has 12 career wins but is coming off his worst season in 13 years, also kept the spin positive.

"If I could have played the front nine (better), I could have been right there at the end,'' said Toms, who couldn't get a birdie to drop on the front but made three coming home for a 68.

"It's unfortunate, but it's getting closer, the game is getting better, and I really enjoyed my week here.''

As FBR Opens go, this was a weird one, considering the crowd counts were much lower than usual. For instance, the total attendance for the week was estimated at 470,294, the fewest fans to attend since 2001. And Sunday's crowd of 60,425 fans was the smallest in 12 years.

Blame it on the Super Bowl, which was such a big deal in the Valley of the Sun that even the rowdies at the 16th hole were half gone by the time the leaders came through "the Coliseum,'' the newest nickname for the stadium-like par 3.