The Official 'Double P' Blog

Pat Perez is coming home a man on the mission - with half the battle already won when his ticket was punched today.

When asked last week if he'd rather win Jack Nicklaus' prestigious Memorial event or qualify for next week's US Open, it was a no-brainer for the San Diego native.

"Qualifying," Perez said with no hesitation. "If I knew I was in that tournament, I'd pull out (of the Memorial) now. I guarantee it. Nothing against Jack. I've never made the cut here, anyway. Right now, I would take that over a win. Very much."

And qualify he did.

Perez spent Monday playing 36 holes after a four-day stint at The Memorial. The first leg at Ohio State's Scarlet course, followed up by 18 more at Brookside CC. Even after 18 and knowing what it would take to earn a spot, PP kicked it up a notch, going 5-under at Brookside to secure his place at Torrey.

For those who don't get the "Torrey Pines or bust" mentality, peel the onion back a few layers.

Perez grew up in San Diego, spent his teenage years working Torrey's range, all while attending Torrey Pines High. Over the years Perez estimates he's played the local municipal course upwards of 1,000 times.

"That's my home," he said. "That's everything. I've been thinking about that since they came out with it."

Still on fumes after rolling into Dublin last Wednesday evening, Perez shot 70-73-73-75 at this year's Memorial, en route to a T26th finish. After four grueling days, it was the fifth and sixth rounds of golf this week that would define this recent trip to Ohio.

"It was hard this morning on the first tee after getting up," Perez said. "I'm absolutely dead. I'm not going to do anything until I get to Torrey on Saturday. I'm not touching a club until then. But it's always worth it to play in a major - especially this one."

Perez nearly made it into the Open field off his world ranking, shooting 67-65 on the weekend to finish sixth at last week's Colonial. But that only moved him up to No. 54 in the world, and the top 50 are exempt.

In an effort to clear his head and get some R&R, Perez chose to spend the earlier part of last week hosting some long-time friends at his home, taking in an Iron Maiden concert and unwinding with a few 'practice' rounds at Arizona Country Club and Estancia, hosting Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain.

The remedy proved successful and the result of the past seven days is a first class ticket punched to the US Open, a major in Perez' old backyard.

PP will head to San Diego later this week to begin preparations for the Open and PatPerezGolf.com will have exclusive coverage all next week.