Perry suffers scratched cornea, PGA in doubt

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BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – On the eve of the 90th PGA Championship, GolfChannel.com has learned that Kenny Perry, one of the pre-tournament favorites, is suffering from a scratched cornea that occurred while he was removing a contact lens from his eye late Tuesday.
 
Tournament doctors prescribed a steroid medication. But Perry said late Wednesday afternoon that he wouldn’t know for certain until Thursday whether he will be able to play at all this week.
 
“It’s killing me right now,” Perry told GolfChannel.com. “But I think I’ll be fine tomorrow.”
 
The 47-year-old Perry already has won three times in 2008 and as late as Tuesday afternoon expressed confidence about his chances to win at Oakland Hills because, he said, the golf course fits his eye and it favors a player who hits his irons with a high trajectory.
 
“It’s kind of a bummer,” Perry said of the injury.
 
If Perry can’t play, it means he will have played in zero major championships this year. He didn’t qualify for the Masters in April. And, in a decision that was controversial to his critics, he decided to skip the U.S. Open and the British Open to guarantee his place on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
 
Perry’s first round tee time is 2:05 p.m. He said one doctor advised him not to wear contact lenses for at least another week. The problem, Perry said, is that he’s had two Lasik surgeries and needs the contact lenses to play.
 
“I can’t play in glasses because of depth perception problems,” he said. “And if I play without glasses or contact lenses, I just don’t see very well.”
 
Perry is currently ranked 17th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He tied for 66th at last week’s WGC-Bridgestone. In his previous start, he tied for sixth at the U.S. Bank Milwaukee, an event played opposite the Open Championship.
 
Prior to Milwaukee Perry had won three times in his previous five starts.
 
This could bode well for Perry, though. All three major champions this year have had to battle some kind of injury or ailment prior to their repsective victories: Trevor Immelman (benign tumor removed), Masters; Tiger Woods (knee), U.S. Open; Padraig Harrington (wrist), British Open.
 
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