Perry works on swing, Curtis returns home and more

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Defending champion Kenny Perry says he isn't as sharp entering the Memorial as he was last season.

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Vijay Singh had nothing on Kenny Perry Monday.

Perry, who defends his title at the Memorial Tournament this week, spent about five hours on the practice range -- "I think I hit 16 bags of balls," he said -- trying to work out a glitch that has developed in his swing.

"I'm hitting a lot of pulls," Perry explained. "They're starting left of the flag and then they're hooking. My normal shot starts out right and comes to the flag. I don't know if it's a timing issue or a ball position, alignment. I'm not quite sure where I am right now."

So Perry laid one club on the range where his feet should be while another one pointed at the target. The three-time Memorial champ discovered he was too open at address which threw off his ball position -- even though optically things looked correct.

"I actually hit a couple that were nice (during Tuesday's practice round)," Perry said. "... I'm starting to hit one or two where it should be. I'm just not sharp. I'm not as sharp as I was coming in here last year.

"But it only takes one thought, one swing with me to say that's it. I've done that many a time. I'll be off for a week, and all of a sudden, I'll hit one golf shot. I can feel that right back and I can repeat that."

Perry, who'll be the first to admit he's a streaky player, actually has his swing data logged back to 1999. He uses two cameras -- one behind him and another to the side -- and the comparisons sometimes are telling.

"I can split screen, I can put up a swing from 2003 when I won good," Perry said. "... And I can put my swing against it now, and I can actually see movement that I'm doing differently now, as opposed to when I was playing well."

Perry's swing coach Matt Killen is at Muirfield Village this week and the two plan to have a practice session on Wednesday morning. Considering Perry's already won once this season and has five other top-10s, he can't be too far off.

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Ben Curtis, on the other hand, hasn't played all that well this year on the PGA TOUR. In fact, a tie for 22nd at THE PLAYERS Championship in his last start is the Ohioan's best finish.

Curtis

However, the 2003 British Open champion returns to his hometown for the Memorial Tournament this week with momentum after a pair of top-10s on the European Tour.

Curtis tied for sixth at the BMW PGA Championship and eighth at the European Open last week. Both were played consecutively in the London area which made it easy for Curtis, who wants to participate both in the FedExCup and Race to Dubai this year.

Curtis is 92nd in the FedExCup standings where the top 125 qualify for the first event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Should he play well enough to advance to the season-ending TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, Curtis could have a chance at the $10 million bonus that goes with winning the FedExCup.

As far as the Race is concerned, Curtis currently stands 48th. Only the top 60 players in the standings qualify for the European Tour's $10 million finale at the Dubai World Championship in November. There is an additional $10 million to be split among the top 15 in the Race to Dubai standings at the tournament's end.

"I had a good year last year," Curtis said. "(I) felt like my game was in the right place. ... My confidence was high. I felt like why not see what I can do on both Tours as a challenge -- just to see if I can get in THE TOUR Championship over here and also play in the Race to Dubai in Europe.

"That would be some accomplishment for me that I would be very proud of doing. I like going over there and playing, as well. There's more than just the money factor."

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Rocco Mediate captured the hearts of the country at the U.S. Open last year when he took Tiger Woods to 91 holes before the world's No. 1 player captured his 15th major championship.

Mediate

Now their David vs. Goliath struggle at Torrey Pines has been turned into a book called "Are You Kidding Me?" written by noted sports journalist John Feinstein. The book was released on May 18.

Mediate said he discovered things about himself that he didn't even know in the process of writing the book. For example, Feinstein talked to one of his good friends who used to wonder what made Mediate ever think he could make it as a pro.

"And in a way, he's kind of right," Mediate said with a grin. "... Something happened, and I'm still here."

Reliving some of his shots at Torrey Pines proved to be emotional for Mediate. Although he would love to get started on the sequel at Bethpage Black in two weeks, the affable veteran cherished every minute as he tested himself against the game's best.

"In that situation, there was something special about it," Mediate said. "You can call me crazy. It wasn't a normal day for me. ... I don't know how to explain it. It was too big of a prize and a really big challenger to try to do that.

"It was really it. That's what you want. I want to try to do that again some."

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Trevor Immelman withdrew from the Memorial Tournament on Tuesday due to lingering tendonitis in his left wrist. The 2008 Masters champ has experienced discomfort for nearly two months and saw a specialist earlier this week.

"I'm disappointed because the Memorial is one of my favorite tournaments of the season, and I consider it a huge honor to be able to play in Jack Nicklaus' tournament each year," Immelman said in a statement released by his management company, IMG.

"But I obviously had to thing long-term and do what's best with the rest of the season in mind. At this point, I just have to take the time, and do what the doctor says is necessary to get my wrist feeling better so that I am fully healthy when I do return to play."

Immelman was replaced in the field by Tim Herron.