Final-round notebook – FBR Open
* David Toms collected his second top-10 of the year with his T4 finish. Toms, who finished T2 at the Sony Open in Hawaii to begin his season, had only one top-10 finish last year. This year has started similarly to Toms’ 2007 season when he had T8 finishes at both the Mercedes Championship and the FBR Open.* Kenny Perry is now 10 of 17 when holding/sharing the lead heading into the final round:
Tournament Final Rd. Finish
1987 Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational 69 (-3) T4
1988 Centel Classic 72 (E) T5
1991 the Memorial Tournament 71 (-1) won
1994 Hardee’s Classic 68 (-2) 2nd
1995 Bob Hope Classic (after 4 rounds) 70 (-2) won
1995 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 72 (E) T3
1995 Nissan Open 71 (E) 2nd
2001 Buick Open 69 (-3) won
2002 Mercedes Championship 69 (-4) 3rd
2003 Bank of America Colonial 68 (-2) won
2003 the Memorial Tournament 72 (E) won
2003 Greater Milwaukee Open 66 (-4) won
2005 Bay Hill Invitational 70 (-2) won
2005 Bank of America Colonial 69 (-1) won
2005 WGC-NEC Invitational 74 (+4) 6th
2008 John Deere Classic 70 (-1) won
2009 FBR Open 69 (-2) won playoff
* Ten of Kenny Perry’s 13 wins have come as a front-runner:
Tournament After 54 Final Round Result
1991 the Memorial Tournament led by 2 shot 71 won playoff
1994 New England Classic 3rd – 1 back shot 65 won by 1
1995 Bob Hope Classic (after 4 rounds) led by 2 shot 70 won by 1
2001 Buick Open led by 5 shot 69 won by 2
2003 Bank of America Colonial led by 8 shot 68 won by 6
2003 the Memorial Tournament led by 2 shot 72 won by 2
2003 Greater Milwaukee Open led by 1 shot 66 won by 1
2005 Bay Hill Invitational led by 3 shot 70 won by 2
2005 Bank of America Colonial led by 7 shot 69 won by 7
2008 the Memorial Tournament T2 – 3 back shot 69 won by 2
2008 Buick Open T5 – 3 back shot 66 won by 1
2008 John Deere Classic T1 – 3 players shot 70 won playoff
2009 FBR Open led by 1 shot 69 won playoff
Kenny Perry’s (Franklin, KY) win Sunday keeps intact a record that no PGA Tour player has won on the same weekend his hometown team won the Super Bowl. A total of 31 players from the greater Phoenix area teed it up this week at TPC Scottsdale with Geoff Ogilvy’s T17 being the highest finish by a local player.
* Sunday’s playoff 18 10 17
Kenny Perry bogey-5 par-4 birdie-3
Charley Hoffman bogey-5 par-4 --
* Australian rookie James Nitties finished T4 this week in is third career start on the PGA Tour. Nitties missed the cut in his two prior starts this year at the Sony Open in Hawaii and last week’s Bob Hope Classic.
* There must be something about the Arizona desert that suits South Korean-born Kevin Na, who finished third this week. Na’s record in this event:
2005 T2
2007 T67
2008 T4
2009 3rd
In addition to his fine play at TBC Scottsdale, Na also finished T2 at the 2005 Chrysler Classic of Tucson.
* Kenny Perry made more money this week ($1,080,000) than he had had in his previous 21 starts in this event ($1,039,898).
* Kenny Perry’s record at the FBR Open:
22 starts 1 win 6 top-10s 12 top-25s total money earned – $2,119,898
* Brian Gay finished T6 this week, the fourth consecutive week the former Florida All-America has posted a top-25 finish. Gay, now in his 11th season on Tour, is off to the best start of his career. Gay’s four consecutive top-25s mark the best stretch he’s had on Tour since midway in the 2001 season when he ran off six in a row, starting with a T6 at the Buick Open. Below is a chart to indicate how many starts it took Gay to collect four top-25s in any single season:
1999 – 15 starts
2000 – 18
2001 – 15
2002 – 16
2003 – 26
2004 – 13
2005 – 19
2006 – 14
2007 – 16
2008 – 11
2009 – 4
* This was the 13th time the FBR Open has concluded with a playoff, and only the second time there has been a playoff in consecutive years (1995,1996). Phil Mickelson (1996, 2008) and Ben Hogan (1946, 1949) are the only players who have been in two playoffs, and both players won one and lost the other.
YEAR
RESULT
2009
Kenny Perry def. Charley Hoffman with birdie on the third extra hole
2008
J.B. Holmes beat Phil Mickelson with birdie on first extra hole
1996
Phil Mickelson beat Justin Leonard with birdie on third extra hole
1995
Vijay Singh beat Billy Mayfair with par on first extra hole
1988
Sandy Lyle beat Fred Couples with a bogey on third extra hole
1983
Bob Gilder beat Rex Caldwell, Johnny Miller and Mark O'Meara with par on eighth extra hole
1977
Jerry Pate beat Dave Stockton with birdie on first extra hole
1972
Homero Blancas beat Lanny Wadkins with birdie on first extra hole
1960
Jack Fleck beat Bill Collins
1954
Ed Forgol beat Cary Middlecoff
1949
Jimmy Demaret beat Ben Hogan
1946
Ben Hogan beat Herman Keiser
1944
Harold McSpaden beat Byron Nelson
* Players who posted four rounds in the 60s this week:
Charley Hoffman 66-68-69-67—270 (-14) P2
David Toms 69-68-67-68—272 (-12) T4
Ryan Moore 69-67-68-69—273 (-11) T6
Cliff Kresge 68-69-68-69—274 (-10) T10
* Seating capacity at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Fla. for Super Bowl XLIII will be 72,500. Attendance Sunday at the FBR Open was 60,425, bringing the total attendance for the week to 470,294. Last year, a record total of 538,356 fans came through gates at TPC Scottsdale throughout the week.
* Nine of the top 11 players finishing this week are Nationwide Tour alumni, including Charley Hoffman who lost in the playoff to Kenny Perry. Hoffman missed the cut in this event in 2007 and 2008, the only two times he has teed it up at TPC Scottsdale.
* James Nitties (T4) and Scott Piercy (T6) were the top finishers amongst PGA Tour rookies this week. Others rookies to make the 36-hole cut were Jeff Klauk (T48), Gary Woodland (T60) and Webb Simpson (65).
* Rickie Fowler shot a 3-over-par 74 Sunday and finished the week at 1-over 285 (T58). Fowler played on a Sponsor’s Exemption and was the only amateur in this week’s field. This was the third career start on Tour for the 20-year-old sophomore at Oklahoma State University. He missed the cut at last year’s Verizon Heritage and tied for 60th at the U.S. Open Championship. Fowler is currently the No. 2 ranked amateur in the world behind only Danny Lee of New Zealand. Fowler was an All-America selection as a freshman, Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, the first-ever freshman to win the Ben Hogan Award and a Walker Cup member last year.
* Best Rounds of the Day:
65 6-under Rod Pampling, D.J. Trahan
66 5-under John Senden, Brett Quigley
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