Kenny Perry sloshed through the water-logged fairways, ducking under an umbrella every chance he got. He also hit plenty of good shots on a miserable day at the TPC Sugarloaf.
Coming off a final-round meltdown at The Players Championship, Perry endured a steady — and occasionally driving rain — to claim a share of the first-round lead with a 6-under 66 at the AT&T Classic on Thursday.
The other leaders — Jonathan Kaye, Ryan Palmer, Jonathan Byrd and Parker McLachlin — all teed off in the morning, before a huge weather system engulfed the suburban Atlanta course.
They were the lucky ones.
Byrd was likely watching from his nice, dry hotel room by the time Perry rolled in a 14-footer to save par at the treacherous ninth, his final hole.
"I don't like playing in the rain. I can't think of anybody who does," Byrd said. "It's just not a whole lot of fun. It's a lot of work."
Perry's bogey-free round was especially impressive in light of the soggy conditions and other hardships.
He had to remain on the course during a 31-minute delay when the rain turned so heavy that play had to be halted. Then, when he got to his last hole, surely looking forward to calling it a day, he found a backlog of five groups waiting to tee off — all of them held up by an earlier ruling on Glen Day that took nearly a half-hour to sort out.
Complete article