PGA Tour: Perry Has Been Making Major Thrust

1 Who’s hot: Milwaukee winner Kenny Perry, recording his third triumph in four starts. In his other appearance, he finished third in the U.S. Open.... David Toms (six top 20s in six starts), heating up just in time to make a run at the British Open.... Nick Price, fifth or better in four of his last five events.

2 Who’s not: Phil Mickelson, who has slipped from second to 10th in the world rankings. Mickelson hasn’t registered a top 10 since the Masters.... Jeff Sluman, four consecutive missed cuts since a tie for 18th at the Memorial.

3 Biggest surprises: Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson, fifth at the U.S. Open, third in Memphis, and eighth at the Western. Jacobson entered only one tour event in 2002.... Kirk Triplett, 24th on the money list.

4 Biggest disappointments: The same twosome for much of the year, David Duval and Sergio Garcia. Between them, in 28 starts, they’ve recorded only one top 10. Two years after his last triumph, the 2001 British Open, Duval, incredibly, has dropped to 87th in the world rankings. Garcia has slipped to 15th.

5 Best round: The five-under 65 by Tom Watson in first round of the U.S. Open. Before he faded over the weekend, Watson provided a rather lackluster championship with its only real drama.... Price’s closing 62 in Memphis, putting the pressure on Toms.

6 Worst round: Woods’ 75 in the third round of the Open. Within range of the leaders, Woods, for the third consecutive major, fell apart.... Vijay Singh’s closing 78 in the Open, only two days after his record-tying 63.

7 Best shot under pressure: Jonathan Kaye, from 254 yards, reaching the green with his second shot on the par-five, 18th hole in his sudden-death victory over John Rollins at the Buick Classic in New York.... Perry’s difficult chip from the tall grass at the 18th in Milwaukee, setting up a three-foot birdie putt for the win.

8 Worst shot under pressure: Also, at the Buick, Sergio Garcia’s pitch from off the 18th green in regulation. Garcia, only a stroke out of the lead, took four shots to get in the hole.... Steve Allan’s hooked drive on the 17th hole in Milwaukee, leading to a bogey that cut his lead to one over Perry.

9 Coming attractions: The Greater Hartford Open, the battle of the sexes Part II, another sequel that won’t stand up to the first of the year. In this episode, Suzy Whaley, who has missed the cut in two of her three LPGA starts, probably will have trouble breaking 80.... The International at Castle Pines outside Denver, which will be hard-pressed to match last year’s duel between Rich Beem and Steve Lowery.

Michael Arkush

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PGA Tour at a Glance

RESULTS

*--* Date Tournament Champion Jan. 6--12 Mercedes Championships Ernie Els Jan. 13-19 Sony Open in Hawaii Ernie Els Jan. 20-26 Phoenix Open Vijay Singh Jan. 27-Feb. 2 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic Mike Weir Feb. 3-9 AT&T; Pebble Beach National Davis Love III Pro-Am Feb. 10-16 Buick Invitational Tiger Woods Feb. 17-23 Nissan Open Mike Weir Feb. 24-March 2 WGC-Accenture Match Play Tiger Woods Championship Feb. 24-March 2 Chrysler Classic of Tucson Frank Lickliter II March 3-9 Ford Championship at Doral Scott Hoch March 10-16 The Honda Classic Justin Leonard March 17-23 Bay Hill Invitational Presented Tiger Woods by Cooper Tires March 24-30 The Players Championship Davis Love III March 31-April 6 BellSouth Classic Ben Crane April 7-13 The Masters Mike Weir April 14-20 The MCI Heritage Davis Love III April 21-27 Shell Houston Open Fred Couples April 28-May 4 HP Classic of New Orleans Steve Flesch May 5--11 Wachovia Championship David Toms May 12-18 EDS Byron Nelson Championship Vijay Singh May 19-25 Bank of America Colonial Kenny Perry May 26-June 1 The Memorial Kenny Perry June 2--8 FBR Capital Open Rory Sabbatini June 9-15 U.S. Open Jim Furyk June 16-22 Buick Classic Jonathan Kaye June 23-29 FedEx St. Jude Classic David Toms June 30-July 6 Western Open Tiger Woods July 7-13 Greater Milwaukee Open Kenny Perry

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UPCOMING EVENTS

*--* Today-Sun British Open Ernie Els (D) Today-Sun B.C. Open Spike McRoy (D) July 21-27 Greater Hartford Open Phil Mickelson (D) July 28 Lincoln Financial Battle at the Tiger Woods/Jack Nicklaus (D) Bridges* July 28-Aug. 3 Buick Open Tiger Woods (D) Aug. 4-10 The International Rich Beem (D) Aug. 11-17 PGA Championship Rich Beem (D)

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*-exhibition. (D) -- defending champion.

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PGA Tour Money Leaders

*--* No Player Event Money 1 Mike Weir 13 $4,280,392 2 Tiger Woods 10 $4,252,420 3 Davis Love III 13 $3,927,962 4 Jim Furyk 17 $3,681,313 5 Kenny Perry 17 $3,522,538 6 Vijay Singh 15 $3,393,812 7 David Toms 18 $3,241,140 8 Ernie Els 10 $2,623,859 9 Justin Leonard 16 $2,197,150 10 Nick Price 12 $2,064,011

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