Maybe it was appropriate.

Perry hadn't particularly wanted to play the links golf of Royal St. George's. And not many in the crowd seemed particularly interested in watching him play.

They better get used to it. They'll be seeing a lot of him this weekend.

After a day when the links never looked better to the country boy from Kentucky, Perry put himself firmly in contention in the British Open.

Even more tantalizing, he actually thinks he can win.

``I'm not afraid of the lead,'' Perry said. ``I'm not afraid to win golf tournaments.''

The hottest player in golf hasn't been afraid of much lately -- except, perhaps, getting on an airplane and coming over to a tournament he's played in only once before in his 17-year career.

He's won three of his last four tournaments -- the last one coming on Sunday in Milwaukee -- and finished third in the other one, which just happened to be the U.S. Open.

Perry opened here with a 3-over 74, but a second-round 70 that featured some brilliant ball-striking put him in a logjam of players three shots behind leader Davis Love III.

Most of his career, Perry has played for the security of a payday. This week, he's locked in on winning his first major championship at the unlikely age of 42.

``I think I can. I believe in myself,'' Perry said. ``I'm hitting it well. I don't have any weaknesses out there right now.''

It was hard to find many on a day when Perry made four birdies in his first seven holes, then hung on coming in on the tricky slopes of one of the most quirky of all Open courses.

Perry's last British Open came in 1991, and he never really warmed to the links-style golf played on the island. He didn't like the idea of traveling so far for a tournament when he could play for money at home.

But, in a year in which he leads the PGA Tour in total driving and seems to be able to place his iron shots wherever he wants, Perry knew it was time to take another stab at this major title.

``I originally wasn't going to come over,'' Perry said. ``But I was playing so well I had to come over here and try. I wanted to come over here and test my skills.''

Perry's week didn't start on a good note. He had jet lag on Tuesday and was just trying to get acclimated when he got a phone call from home that the wife of a nephew had died suddenly of a brain aneurysm.

Perry was checking plane schedules to go home, but decided to stay. His next hurdle was playing his first two rounds with the distractions of being in the group just behind Woods while trying at the same time to figure out the subtleties of links golf.

Through two rounds, he adapted quite well.

``I'm learning. It's a crash course here,'' Perry said. ``I'm not a very good 7- or 8-iron bump-and-run kind of guy. Thank goodness I'm hitting a lot of greens.''

Once he gets on the greens he's doing all right, too. Perry made a birdie putt on the second hole and added three more by the par-5 seventh. Then he came down the tough back side trying to keep from dropping shots along the way.

He finished with a bogey on the 18th hole after chipping to 10 feet, but made more than he missed.

``I felt like I was going to make everything I stood over,'' Perry said.

It was pretty heady stuff for a guy who wasn't quite sure what he was seeing when he looked over the undulating brown seaside links that is Royal St. George's.

``I thought I was looking at the surface of the moon,'' he said.

Perry built a more traditional golf course for his hometown of Franklin, Ky., then paid off the mortgage with wins this year at Colonial and Memorial. If he wins, he says, he'll take the claret jug that goes to the Open winner and put it on the counter in the pro shop of his course for everyone to see.

The fans haven't exactly embraced him yet, but Perry says everyone has been nice and he's been surprised by how many know about his three wins.

If he keeps playing the way he has, by Sunday they may be as excited over seeing him come down the wind-swept 18th hole as they are to see Woods play there any time.

``I love the people here and it's thrilling to look out there and see the course,'' Perry said. ``It's been exciting. I'm really enjoying myself.''

So much that he will make this Open a regular stop?

``I might come back for more of them,'' Perry said.

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