Perry holds on for first win in 6 years

Kenny Perry posted a three-under 69 Sunday to hang on and win the Buick Open by two shots over Chris DiMarco and Jim Furyk. His four-day score of 25-under-par 263 missed Robert Wrenn's 1987 tournament record by one stroke and was the second lowest total on the PGA Tour this season.

The win was Perry's first of the 2001 campaign and his fourth all-time on the PGA Tour. His last victory came at the 1995 Bob Hope Classic, and for the man who celebrated his 41st birthday on Friday, the win was not without anxious moments.

"It was a long night last night," said Perry. "I didn't get any sleep. I had a lot on my mind. I went out there today and didn't have a real sharp game."

One player who was sharp on Sunday was Billy Mayfair. He set the PGA Tour nine-hole record in relation to par with a nine-under 27 on the back nine in Sunday's final round. He finished the day with an 11-under-par 61 to eclipse the previous course record at Warwick Hills by one shot.

Mike Souchak had a 27 at the 1955 Texas Open, but it was only eight-under on the par-35 back nine at Brackenridge Park Golf Course. Andy North carded a seven-under 27 on the par-34 second nine at En-Joie Golf Club in the 1975 B.C. Open.

Mayfair also set the record for best birdie-eagle streak in PGA Tour history by posting seven birdies and an eagle in eight consecutive holes, starting at the ninth.

Mayfair's final round, one shot better than the old Warwick Hills record of 62 set by Furyk in 1995 and equaled by Sonny Skinner in '97, saw him finish at 17-under-par 271.

Perry, who had yet to start when Mayfair finished, already posted a 54-hole tournament record of 22-under-par 194, leaving Mayfair had no realistic chance to win his second Buick Open title.

"When you're teeing off hours before the leaders, you know you're not going to win," said Mayfair, the 1998 Buick Open champion. "When I handed the putter to my caddie on 18, I told him, 'I hope we at least hold on for the top 25.'"

Perry had a five-shot lead after a 12-foot birdie at the fourth but other players moved up the board to make it close. Dudley Hart birdied five of his first six holes on the back nine to get within one shot of Perry.

At the 16th, Hart chipped to six feet but failed to convert the birdie try. He found a greenside bunker at the par-three 17th and could only blast out to 20 feet. Hart missed the par save, giving Perry a two-shot edge.

Perry extended his lead at the short, par-four 14th. He drove the green and his ball finished 40 feet from the hole before he blew his eagle attempt three feet past. Perry ran home the birdie to gain a comfortable three-shot cushion.

DiMarco soared up the leaderboard with five consecutive birdies on the back nine, including a three-footer at the 16th. He missed an eight-foot birdie opportunity at 17 but he played a brilliant approach to within two feet at 18 to set up birdie, pulling him within one shot of the lead.

Furyk was rolling on the back with five birdies before coming to the par- three 17th, the most difficult hole in Sunday's final round. He left a five- iron 35 feet short but nailed the long putt to also draw within one.

Perry still had the reachable par-five 16th and he got home with a two-iron from 259 yards out. He missed his 20-foot eagle try but tapped in for birdie to go up by two.

He two-putted from 12 feet at 17 and then saved par from the left fringe at the closing hole for his first victory since losing the 1996 PGA Championship playoff to Mark Brooks.

"I struggled and fought and that's all I can say I did, I fought through the day," said Perry, who pocketed $558,000 for the victory. "I was able to shoot a respectable round and that's all I needed."

The tournament was not a total loss for the second-place finishers. Both moved up in the Ryder Cup points list, with Furyk now in the top-10 in the eighth spot and DiMarco close behind in 11th.

After next week's PGA Championship, the top-10 players on the American side automatically qualify for the team. Captain Curtis Strange will round out the 12-man squad with two wild-card selections.

"I happy with the way I played today," said Furyk, who carded a six-under 66 on Sunday. "I'm hoping (to make the Ryder Cup team). I'm real happy about it and I'm looking forward to it."

Hart and Tom Pernice, Jr., last week's winner at The International, shared fourth place at 21-under 267.

Brian Gay (65) and Padraig Harrington (69) finished tied for sixth at 20-under while Ian Leggatt and Jeff Maggert were a shot behind at minus-19.

Phil Mickelson fired an eight-under 64 on Sunday to share 10th place with Bob Tway, Frank Lickliter and Justin Leonard at 18-under par.

Mayfair, who had seven pars and just one birdie over the first eight holes Sunday, began his record run with a 10-foot birdie putt at the ninth. He then kicked off his brilliant inward side by spinning a sand wedge back into the hole for an eagle at the par-four 10th. "Obviously that kind of gave me a spark in my step and all that, but I still wasn't thinking anything about records or anything like that," said Mayfair.

Mayfair birdied the next six holes, four with putts from between 10 and 15 feet. His 10-footer at the 16th allowed him to surpass the old birdie-eagle record stretch of seven holes, established by Al Geiberger in the 1977 Memphis Classic and matched by Webb Heintzelman at the 1989 Las Vegas Invitational.

Although a two-putt par from 30 feet at the 17th broke the streak, Mayfair was able to close with a 12-foot putt for birdie to set the tour's nine-hole mark.

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