The Daily Wrap-up, Round 4: FBR Open
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- After the first two playoff holes, neither Kenny Perry nor Charley Hoffman looked capable of winning the FBR Open.
They were 1 over, and it looked as if they might have to play until dark.
"The playoff was ugly," Perry said. "We were hitting it everywhere, having to scramble from all over the place."
Perry finally finished off Hoffman, making a 22-foot birdie putt on the third extra hole Sunday at TPC Scottsdale.
Perry closed with a 2-under 69 to match Hoffman (67) at 14-under 270. It was the 13th PGA TOUR victory for Perry, the 48-year-old from Kentucky who won three times last year and played on the winning U.S. Ryder Cup team.
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NA DISAPPOINTED, BUT OPTIMISTIC
By Bill Huffman, Special to PGATOUR.COM
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.
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| Sunday's Best |
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The par-5 15th hole was the easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.592.
The par-3 12th hole was the toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 3.183.
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Kenny Perry drained a long birdie putt on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff against Charley Hoffman to win his 13th career title. 
Charley Hoffman had four birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine to force a playoff against Kenny Perry. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Fred Albers offers these observations from Sunday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.com.
Kenny Perry knew what he was playing for before his round even began on Sunday. It wasn't just a million dollar pay day and his 13th career win on the PGA TOUR, it was much more personal than money or statistics. Perry's father and mother are both in the hospital and winter weather has devastated his home state of Kentucky. Perry wanted to make sure everyone back home knew they were on his mind as much as the birdies and bogeys.
Ted Purdy walked off the 18th green with a smile on his face, which might have seemed a little unusual for someone who just shot a final-round 76 and tied for 35th place. "My attitude is from my gratitude," said Purdy. He is a native of Arizona, lives in Phoenix and received a sponsor's exemption to get into the field. "I'm not going to let a few bad shots spoil a great weekend for my hometown," grinned Purdy. Taking a page from Billy Mayfair, he also slipped on an Arizona Cardinals jersey while playing the par-3 16th hole, much to the delight of the gallery.
Kevin Na had two chances to enter the playoff but missed makeable birdie putts on the 17th and 18th holes. When in contention in the past, weather has plagued the final round of events Na had an opportunity to win. Scottsdale was beautiful on Sunday, but Na's putter was uncooperative at exactly the wrong moments. He now has a second, third and fourth-place finish on his resume.
| What the top finishers said... | ||||||||||||
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FOURTH-ROUND NOTEBOOK: FBR OPEN
By Joe Chemycz, PGA TOUR Staff
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Kenny Perry's win Sunday in the FBR Open comes in his third start of the 2009 season, the earliest in the year he has won in any season. His previous earliest win came in 1995, when he captured the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in his fifth start of the year. He also won the 2005 Bay Hill Invitational in his sixth start of that season.
• Perry is now 10 of 17 when holding or sharing the lead heading into the final round, but a whopping nine of those victories have come in the last 11 times he's been in that situation.
• Perry's win Sunday keeps intact a record that no PGA TOUR player has won on the same weekend his hometown team won the Super Bowl. A total of 31 players from the greater Phoenix area teed it up this week at TPC Scottsdale with Geoff Ogilvy's tie for 17th being the highest finish by a local player. Perry lives in Franklin, Ky.
• Australian rookie James Nitties finished tied for fourth this week in his third career start on the TOUR. Nitties missed the cut in his two prior starts this year at the Sony Open in Hawaii and last week's Bob Hope Classic.
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