Kenny Perry failed in his first two attempts to qualify for the PGA Tour through qualifying school and was sponsored by a group of supportive locals from his home town of Kentucky as he tried to make a living from the game.

In 1985 a local businessman lent him the required money for one final attempt at getting on to the Tour and Kenny Perry achieved the aim by a two-shot margin.

It was a struggle at first for Kenny Perry, who had to work to retain his card, but his first success came in 1991 at the Memorial Tournament and he has remained a fixture in the world's best tournaments since.

In 2006 he became the 10th man in PGA Tour history to reach US$ 20 million in career earnings, before taking a break from golf for knee surgery.

At first, he struggled to regain his form following his absence from the Tour, but he has since showed himself to be as good a golfer as he has ever been, particularly when narrowly failing to land his first Major in the 2009 Masters and at 48 become the oldest winner of the tournament. A bogey-bogey finish forced him into a play-off with Angel Cabrera and Chad Campbell, which Cabrera won.

Kenny Perry excels in no one area, with his driving, scrambling and putting all being well above-average, but his all-round game remains a match for any rival despite being close to reaching the cut-off for the Seniors Tour.