Perry rallies to Senior Open win

Omaha, NE – Kenny Perry fired a 7-under 63 on Sunday to rally for a 5-stroke victory at the U.S. Senior Open Championship.

Perry, who was 10 strokes off the pace at the end of the second round, captured his second straight major victory at 13-under-par 267. He won his first major title two weeks ago at the Senior Players Championship.

Perry became just the ninth player in Champions Tour history to capture consecutive majors.

"I came in here on a high with a lot of confidence, and this golf course really fit a long hitter," said Perry. "I mean, if you could hit it fairly straight, you could really take advantage of this golf course."

Fred Funk carded a 2-under 68 during his final round at Omaha Country Club to finish in second place at 8-under, while Rocco Mediate (66) and Corey Pavin (67) shared third at 7-under.

Michael Allen, who held a 5-stroke advantage at the end of the second round for the largest-ever lead in tournament history, tripped to his second straight 2-over 72 on Sunday to finish in fifth place at 6-under 274.

Allen entered the final round with a 2-stroke lead over Perry and Fred Funk, who birdied the second hole to move to 7-under and cut his deficit to one.

Perry joined Funk with a birdie at the second, and then pulled ahead with another gain at the third.

Allen, meanwhile, had tripped to bogeys at the third and fourth to fall two strokes off the pace.

Funk followed with a bogey at the fourth to hand Perry a 2-stroke edge, but Perry bogeyed the fifth and Funk birdied the sixth to tie for the lead at 7- under.

Mediate made it a three-man race as he followed an eagle at the sixth with a birdie at the seventh to meet them there.

The tie was shortlived, however, as Perry pulled ahead for good with a birdie at the sixth. That started a streak of four straight gains that moved him to 11-under and three clear of Allen, who recorded birdies at the sixth and eighth to reach minus-8.

Pavin would later join Allen in second place when he recorded his fifth straight birdie at the 11th, but neither could pull any closer as they faltered down the final stretch.

Perry would then follow a birdie at the 11th with a bogey at the 12th to remain at 11-under before back-to-back gains at the 14th and 15th moved him well clear of the field.

"He's just playing so good. He has so much power, and he drives it incredibly straight for as far as he hits it," Funk said about Perry. "And he makes, you know, even the long holes out here chip and putt. So it's tough to beat a guy when he's on, when he's driving it that good. You just got to putt a little bit, and it's tough to beat him."

Funk birdied three of his last five holes to race into second place as Pavin bogeyed the 16th to fall to 7-under and Allen followed a double-bogey 6 at the 14th with bogeys at the 16th and 17th to fall well off the pace.

Mediate played his final 12 holes at even par after countering three straight birdies from the 13th with bogeys at Nos. 8, 16 and 18.

NOTES: Perry became just the third player to win the U.S. Senior Open and Senior Players Championship in the same year, joining Gary Player in 1987 and Orville Moody in 1989 ... It is Perry's fourth career victory on the Champions Tour ... Perry is the first player since Michael Allen to record consecutive wins on the Champions Tour. Allen won the 2012 Encompass Insurance Pro-Am of Tampa Bay before winning the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf with David Frost ... Perry earned $500,000 for the win, which will move him to first place on the money list at $1,499,550.