Perry mourns death of relative

Golf's hottest player mulled the idea of going home.
SANDWICH, England (AP) -- Kenny Perry stood on the 13th tee at Royal St. George's trying to decide what to do. The immediate choice was to hit the driver or lay up with a 2-iron, but his thoughts weren't really on the task at hand.
They were thousands of miles away in a small Kentucky town where his family was mourning the death of a close relative.
"I'm thinking of packing it in," Perry said. "It's a tough call. I need to be with them."
Perry had come across the ocean to play the British Open for the first time in 12 years. It was to be a celebration of his career and perhaps a defining moment for the man who is the hottest player in the game at the moment.
Then he got a call Tuesday night about his nephew's wife, who died of a brain aneurysm at age 27 in Bowling Green, Ky.
Suddenly, golf wasn't so important.
"We're a close-knit family. We do so much together, get together at Christmas and all the holidays," Perry said. "It's going to be hard not to see her there."
Decision
Perry spent Tuesday night checking airline schedules to see if he could make it back for the funeral. He played his practice round alone Wednesday, still trying to decide whether to go home.
As the round went on, Perry seemed to be leaning toward playing. He ultimately decided to do so, teeing off just after Tiger Woods in today's first round.
Perry has won three of his last four tournaments, a streak that began at the Colonial and continued Sunday in the Greater Milwaukee Open. In the fourth tournament, he finished third at the U.S. Open.
For a guy who won only four times before in a 17-year career, it was pretty heady stuff. But the folks in Franklin, Ky., will still occasionally find him working behind the counter of the golf course he built for the town.
"Everybody knows everybody there. It's a special town," Perry said. "When I'm home, I'm no different than anyone else. I just happen to have a very public job where everybody knows what I do and what I make."
Not everyone outside Franklin knew Perry, though, as he ground his way through mini-tours and finally to the PGA Tour.
Shifting goals
For years, his only goal was making enough money to survive and play another year on the tour. Now, his future is secure and his goals have changed a bit, along with the response from fans who might have asked before: Kenny who?
"What impresses me is how many kids here knew I won last week," Perry said. "It blew my mind. They're very knowledgeable golf fans here."
Those kids were out in force Wednesday, politely asking Perry to sign caps and programs as he walked between holes on wind-swept Royal St. George's. He happily obliged, chatting as he went along and patiently posing for photos.