Two tied atop Senior Players
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — Kenny Perry wasn’t sure what to expect.
He’s still rounding back into form following shoulder surgery. His back’s bothering him, too.
A spot at the top of the leader board in a major? He’ll take it.
Perry and Mike Small shot 7-under 65s Thursday to share a one-stroke lead in the first round of the Constellation Senior Players Championship.
Bart Bryant, Glen Day and 2015 U.S. Senior Open champion Jeff Maggert were one stroke back.
Defending champion Scott McCarron was in a pack at 5 under, while three-time Senior Players winner Bernhard Langer and Vijay Singh were another shot back at Exmoor Country Club.
The 57-year-old Perry and the 52-year-old Small — the longtime Illinois golf coach — each made eight birdies and one bogey. Perry is in contention for his fifth senior major to go with two U.S. Senior Opens (2013, 2017), a Senior Players Championship (2013) and the Regions Tradition (2014).
“I actually made some putts today,” Perry said. “I’ve had a tough year this year.”
Surgery on his right shoulder kept him out from November until late April. He has one top-10 finish in seven starts this season.
Adding to his difficulties, Perry’s back flared up on him last week. He bent over to pick up a club while practicing at home in Kentucky. Next thing he knew, he was on the ground and then rushing to see his chiropractor.
“I had played seven straight weeks in a row,” Perry said. “It was terrible. ... Seven weeks in a row was way too much golf for an old man, so I just said that was not what I needed to do anymore. Last week was horrible. I couldn’t do a lot. And then didn’t have a lot of expectations coming in here, but I hit the ball nice and finally made a few putts, and that’s why I shot a good score.”
Small never has won on the PGA Tour Champions. He is not a tour member and made the field with strong performances in three events where he received sponsors’ exemptions. He tied for 10th at the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wis., in late June after tying for ninth at the Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, Iowa, two weeks earlier.