Perry coasts to six shot victory

Not even a near-perfect round by Justin Leonard could challenge Kenny Perry in the final round at the Colonial on Sunday.

Leonard tied Perry's course record with a closing 9-under 61, missing a chance for golf history with his only bogey at the 18th hole, and finished at 13 under. He was still six strokes behind Perry, who had a closing 68.

Perry's 19-under total broke the tournament record of 16 under held by 1993 winner Fulton Allem. He was already a stroke under the record after his 61 Saturday gave him an eight-stroke lead.

Perry's victory was an anticlimatic ending at the Colonial, which began on a historic note Thursday when Annika Sorenstam became the first woman in 58 years to play on the PGA Tour.

The only drama during the final round involved Leonard. At 8 under for the day after his 4-foot birdie at the 178-yard 13th hole, he could have become the fourth person to shoot 59 in a PGA Tour event. The last was David Duval at the Bob Hope Classic in 1999.

But his 9-iron came up short of the green 65 feet from the flag, and he pitched 10 feet past. His par putt for a 60 just slid past the hole.

"I'm trying to hit the ball a foot from the hole. Maybe that was a mistake," Leonard said of his approach on the 18th hole. "I was trying to hit close and it didn't work out."

It was just the fifth win for Perry in 17 years on the tour, the first since the 2001 Buick Open. The $900,000 check was his largest on tour, after winning $751,171 his first 11 cuts this year, and pushed his career earnings over $11 million.

Jeff Sluman (65) finished third at 12 under, a stroke better than Brandt Jobe (64).

All of the attention the first two days was on Sorenstam, who missed the cut by four strokes at 5 over after rounds of 71 and 74.

Crowds had gathered 10 to 12 deep along the ropes to watch her play. The media room was also packed with over 300 people for Sorenstam's post-round news conferences. But the crowds spread throughout the course and the media presence diminished significantly once Sorenstam was done for the tournament.

Perry took a share of the lead with a second-round 64, but went virtually overlooked because of Sorenstam. He followed Saturday with his career-low round that included three just-missed birdie putts.

Nearly an inch of rain fell overnight on the 7,080-yard course already soaked by two days of steady rain earlier in the week. With players allowed to lift, clean and place balls hit in the fairway before hitting at soft and receptive greens, there were a lot of low scores.

Colonial played its full length, but never showed its true bite during a week when the greens never firmed up and the usually breezy conditions were absent. Only three players had shot 61s in the previous 56 Colonials.

An eagle out of the bunker at the 565-yard first hole started Leonard's round. He then became the first person since 1985 to birdie Nos. 3-5, with putts of 10-15 feet on the trio of holes known as Colonial's "horrible horseshoe" because of its length and shape - the two longest par 4s on the course surrounding a 246-yard par 3.

Leonard closed out a front-nine 29 when his approach at the 402-yard ninth hole spun back and settled just an inch from the hole.

After making a 10-foot birdie at the 430-yard 15th to get to 9 under for the day, Leonard's tee shot at the 188-yard 16th found a greenside bunker. He saved par after blasting to 7 feet, and then set up his shot at history with a 12-foot birdie at the 383-yard 17th.

Perry played steady through his final round. He was bogey-free until missing a 5-foot par putt at 16, but still led by six strokes.

Perry had a two-putt birdie at No. 1, then had a 40-foot birdie putt slide just past the cup at the 400-yard second hole - after he had to replace his ball hit by Rory Sabbatini's approach.

Sabbatini, the closest to Perry starting the day, ended up in the bunker at No. 2 after his approach to the middle of the green hit Perry's ball and ricocheted to the right. Perry got to replace his, and Sabbatini blasted from the sand to 5 feet to save his par.

Sabbatini made a 15-foot birdie at No. 3 to get to 11 under - and seven strokes within Perry. He never got closer, giving the stroke back when he three-putted at the 246-yard fourth hole.

Perry's 40-foot birdie putt at No. 4 lipped the cup, and he held his hands up in disbelief. But he never had any reason to worry Sunday.

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