Pat Perez rebounded with a stellar Sunday round of 68 in the final round of this year's PGA Championship. More impressive than the final round itself was the fact it came on the heels of a disappointing round of 77 on Saturday.
The resiliency to fall to T44 at day's end Saturday, only to climb inside the top 20 on Sunday with the day's fourth lowest round was an impressive feat. The $81,600 pay day moves PP up to 39th in the FedEx Cup standings, with 6,212 points and $1,428,535 on the season. This also marks his 9th Top 25 finish of 2007.
PGATour.com "Skill Ratings" are now 8 (Power), 6.5 (Accuracy), 7 (Short Game) and 7 (Putting).
A rough go of it for Pat Perez in the third round of the 2007 PGA Championship.
After starting the day with an early bogey on #2, PP tallied ten straight pars before shooting six over in the final six holes. Bogeys on #13 and #15 and doubles on #16 and #18 knocked Perez down to T44 after starting Saturday T6.
Sunday's tee time is set for 9:10am CT and PP is paried up with Charles Howell III.
By Tod Leonard UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER August 11, 2007
TULSA, Okla. - There was a time in Pat Perez's golf past when he might have come unglued about what happened on one hole yesterday in the PGA Championship. Now, it seems he's taking the bad breaks with the good.
During a bizarre turn of events in which Perez's threesome scored a combined 19, Perez double-bogeyed his 14th hole - the par-5 fifth - at Southern Hills, but immediately followed with two straight birdies, draining putts Perez estimated to be 90 and 50 feet.
The recovery allowed Perez to shoot 1-under-par 69 and get into a tie for sixth after two rounds.
It is the Torrey Pines High alum's best standing in a major going into the weekend. He is seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour.
"I'm a little more calm out there. I'm not worried about much anymore," said Perez, 31. "I'm just trying to play well. If it doesn't go right, it doesn't go right.
"You're going to have some nightmare holes out there. I've had two, so two in 36 is not bad."
Among the strange events at the fifth, Rapahel Jacquelin hit the wrong ball and Perez took two shots to escape one area of rough.
"Everybody was feeding off everybody else's bad stuff," Perez said.
That Perez is in this position is not much of a surprise. He has five top-10s this season, including two in his last four starts.
"It's no different than the last month. I've been playing well," Perez said. "It's just nice. I don't have a lot of pressure right now."
TULSA, Okla. - If you thought yesterday's round of 70 was an fun-filled and exciting affair, we hope you tuned in for Friday's round of 69. Pat Perez rolled five clutch birdies en route to a second round 1-under. Late birdies on #7 and #8 were a result of insanely long putts, estimated to be around 50 and 90 feet.
Bogeys on #10, #18 and a double down the stretch on #5 kept this very solid round from being the second best of the day. Instead, PP will have to 'settle' for the sixth best round and being one of only eight players to shoot below par on Friday.
T6 is how Perez's run at the PGA Championship wrapped up in 2005. This time around, it's the starting point entering the weekend. How will he fare? Tune in Saturday and Sunday for the action... and let's hope CBS Sports shows PP a little more love than TNT has the past few days.
Final major of the year. 36 more sweltering holes of golf. This is gonna be a good one. Stay tuned.
Jason Sobel is running a non-stop PGA Championship blog this week and gave PP a little love as Friday's round wrapped up:
6:18 pm - Haven't mentioned Pat Perez yet today, but he's hanging tough at 1-under through 13 holes. How can you not root for a guy who uses this as a a headcover?
Sobel was referring to the new Double P Hybrid Cover and linked to the site for us. Very appreciated, ESPN and crew!
Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hot and humid. The final major of 2007. Pat Perez in the mix at number 42 in FedEx Cup point standings and ready to make a run at Southern Hills.
Thursday's tee time was 9:10am CT and PP started off hot, -2 after four. A triple bogey on #6, the 200 yard par 3, was a definite set back after finding water. But birdies on #10 and #13 landed Perez right back in the thick of things at -1. The only blemish on the back nine was a bogey on #17, landing PP at E on the day.
Friday's tee time is set for 2:25pm CT. TNT will continue all day coverage. Check it out in HD and root the kid in as he makes a run in the final major of 2007.
OTHER NEWS & NOTES: Today's opening round 70 was PP's best opening round at the PGA Championship since rolling a 68 in 2005 en route to a T6 finish. He went 73-73 and missed the cut in 2006.
PP chiming in from the road here. I saw a post asking why I haven't written lately, so I wanted to drop by. Things have been a whirlwind since the beginning of July. I placed 3rd at the AT&T National, which qualified me for this year's British Open. From Bethesda I headed off to the John Deere, didn't see the weekend and within hours was headed over to Carnoustie.
Ended up with a T20 finish overseas, even though the airline didn't get me my clubs until Friday, a day after the opening round. Unreal. I went straight from the British to the Canadian Open the following week and finished T10. From there, over to Portland for the Pacific University Legends Golf Classic, hosted by Tommy Thayer.
Tommy is a bud of mine and asked me last spring to play in his inaugural event. I had no idea I'd be across the country playing in the third to last group the Sunday before his Monday event or that I'd have been out of the country and on the road four weeks straight, but I couldn't let him and the foundation down.
Made it home Tuesday and had six nights in my own bed before hitting the road this Monday for Tulsa. Had some buds out last week, hit the lake and the pool and just tried to lay low as it's another long stretch coming up after the PGA Championship. I was so beat I didn't even trek to San Diego to catch The Cult back-to-back nights.
I was supposed to finally meet the band in Anaheim on Friday and then catch them at the Del Mar Track on Saturday, but the thought of any extra travel based on this past month and the next few weeks... I wanted no part of it.
I'll be gone the entire month of August, playing every week. The season starts winding down soon, so I want to get in as many events as I can between now and then.
Really looking forward to this week's event. Shot 73-73 last year and didn't make the cut. That was on the heels of T6 in 2005. This is the last major of 2007. Need to make the most of it.
Will try to log on more from the road. Was having laptop issues the past few weeks and didn't have service overseas. Scored a new Mac Power Book and will drop a line from time to time.
Nothing like being picked as one of The Fantasy Insider's potential winners for an event you're not even playing in. For those who logged on to PGATour.com this morning, you saw that Brett Avery talked of picking up Pat Perez on waivers for his fantasy roster.
Avery wrote, "Another guy who is peaking at the right time, having gained big boosts at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (solo fourth) and AT&T National (tied third). Yeah, he's missed half the cuts in his 10 starts but only one in the last five."
Though the love is appreciated, probably not a wise move as PP is resting back home in Scottsdale this week after a month on the road. Perez played the AT&T National, John Deere Classic, British Open and Canadian Open without a break. One week home to recharge the batteries and then most likely the Bridgestone Invitational, PGA Championship, Wyndham Championship, The Barclays and Deutsche Bank Championship. (Schedule subject to change.)
Pat Perez rebounded with a stellar Sunday round of 68 in the final round of this year's PGA Championship. More impressive than the final round itself was the fact it came on the heels of a disappointing round of 77 on Saturday.
