FanHouse KEnny Perry

He is Tiger Woods, and sometimes, it seems we forget this. He wins six events in 2009 and we complain about his performances at the majors. He is one of the better match play golfers to ever wrap his hands around a cord grip, yet we worry about his team record.

And then he goes and does stuff like he did Saturday morning at Harding Park in San Francisco, and we remember, this guy is so good at golf it's sickening. Playing alongside Steve Stricker for the third time this week at the Presidents Cup, Woods and Stricker found themselves in trouble. Serious trouble. Needing a 22-footer for birdie on 17 just to say in the match, Tiger eyed the putt with the International team of Mike Weir and Tim Clark in tight for birdie.

Woods' putt looked like it might be short the whole way, but one more revolution lead to the biggest Woods fist pump since the 2005 chip-in at Augusta National and a breath of air to Fred Couples' A team. Weir missed the short birdie, and the match went to 18 all square.

There, Tiger did something only Tiger can do.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The greatest shots in Presidents Cup history? No, not a chance. All the same, Justin Leonard played them perfectly.

Let's talk shot making.

He drained them.

"It was knowing I needed to come out and play well today," he said.

Leonard teamed with Phil Mickelson for Friday's Presidents Cup second round and played top shelf. He birdied the first hole to get the American twosome going in the best-ball competition. He kept pounding until finally rolling in a 12-footer at No. 16 to finish off the International team of Retief Goosen and Adam Scott 3 and 2.

It was a performance instrumental in allowing the United State to lead 6½-5½ going into Saturday's third round.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The eighth Presidents Cup begins play Thursday afternoon at Harding Park Golf Club, but the action started Wednesday when team captains, American Fred Couples and International Greg Norman, matched twosomes for six first-round foursome matches.

The alternate-shot competition will begin at 12:10 p.m. PDT with the International pairing of Canadian Mike Weir and South African Tim Clark taking on Americans Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson.

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TIMONIUM, Md. (AP) -- Kenny Perry's mother has died after a long battle with blood cancer, and the 49-year-old American said he would play in the Presidents Cup next week in San Francisco at his family's request.

Even as Perry turned in one of his best years with three victories and a playoff loss at the Masters, he has been coping with an emotional home life as his mother was put in hospice in July. Perry recently had his son, Justin, caddie for him to keep close as a family.

Mildred Perry died peacefully Thursday morning in Franklin, Ky., of multiple myeloma, Perry's agent said. She was 79.

Greg Norman will play hurt at next week's Presidents Cup.

OK, as captain of the International Team that is taking on the Americans at San Francisco's Harding Park Golf Club, Norman will not hit a shot, but no question he is ailing.

Captain Shark has his right arm in a sling, the result of arthroscopic shoulder surgery performed Wednesday.

"A bit of a surprise," Norman said Friday. "I was trying to delay it until January of next year, but the doctor said I needed to get it done now."

ATLANTA -- It would take a boatload of nerve to come down the stretch of a golf tournament, playing for a $10 million bonus and not lose a single bodily function.

So how much fun was it Sunday afternoon at East Lake Golf Club watching the PGA Tour's best look like they were in need of a extra-large jar of antacids?

Phil Mickelson was the lucky one. Beginning the week No. 14 on the FedEx Cup points list, Lefty admitted from the start he had the slimiest of chances. So he went out Sunday, shot 65 and won The Tour Championship.

The problems were for players who realized what they were chasing.

Earlier this season, Phil Mickelson came out with a DVD easily named, "Secrets of the Short Game." The creative short game guru showed all sorts of shots to hit around the green and how best to execute them.

On Sunday at East Lake, Mickelson stood behind the 16th green, needing to pull off one of those shots he showed on the video -- a chip from just in the rough to a short pin over the fringe. The short shot came out high, landed soft and went directly in the middle of the cup, leading to a huge fist-pump for Lefty and a three shot lead.

Just like in 2000, when Phil shot a final round 66 to steal the Tour Championship from Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh, Phil fired a Sunday 65 to take his third victory of the 2009 season and first since March 15, at the WGC-CA Championship.

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ATLANTA -- Tiger Woods is guaranteed to win the FedEx Cup and $10 million playoff bonus Sunday at East Lake Golf Club with a victory in the Tour Championship.

Considering he is two shots back of third-round leader Kenny Perry's 8 under, while both Sean O'Hair and Phil Mickelson are within two shots of Woods, that's not necessarily guaranteed. Also in the picture is Padraig Harrington, five shots back of Perry.

Possible scenarios for claiming the bonus:

ATLANTA -- As the folks who know him back home in Franklin, Ky., might say, "Attaboy, Kenny."

A good guy had a good day Saturday at East Lake Golf Club. Kenny Perry shot 64 and is 8 under through 54 holes of the Tour Championship. He owns a two-shot lead over Tiger Woods.

If that is not enough to make your windmill turn, then you do not know enough about Kenny Perry.

If Tiger Woods is the face of golf -- and most certainly he is -- then Kenny Perry is its heart.

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