Golf: One year on, Perks is back with attitude

ORLANDO - Craig Perks returns to the scene of his greatest triumph this week as he sets about defending one of golf's most prized trophies.

A miraculous final three holes, during which he chipped in twice and needed only one putt, saw Perks win The Players Championship a year ago in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

The New Zealander's triumph in the event, widely recognised as the unofficial fifth major, changed his life.

His maiden US PGA Tour win earned him $2.5 million and a five-year tour exemption, but there was to be a downside as he struggled to handle the avalanche of attention it brought.

He missed the next three cuts and had to wait five months before another top-10 finish.

One year on, he is a different player and confident his work with new coach Steve Aumock, of Dallas, is beginning to pay dividends as he prepares for the first round of The Players Championship on Friday (NZ time).

It was on the advice of Perks' caddie, Rodney Erb, that he approached Aumock on the eve of the PGA Championship last August.

"Craig said to me that no matter what I did for him, it was going to be an improvement," Aumock said.

"He was just that down about how he was playing. I then watched him hit a few balls on the range and thought to myself that I don't know if I had ever seen anyone win a tournament as big as that [Players] but who struck the ball so bad.

"But then everyone saw what kind of short game he had, and it was his short game that won the tournament for him, and that short game will never leave him."

Aumock has worked on the multiple faulty swing planes in Perks' swing.

Perks is not complaining about winning the Players, but in hindsight he believes he may have coped better had it been a regular PGA Tour event.

"In a way, it would have been easier if my first victory had been somewhere else. Maybe the attention would have been just for a couple of days, rather than weeks and weeks."

Perks' results this year are not as good as this time last year.

"He has missed four of eight cuts, but the five-year tour exemption affords him breathing space and the luxury of making some swing changes.

Perks is looking forward to returning to Sawgrass, despite the distractions that go with being the defending champion.

"You sometimes have to take two steps back before you move forward," he said.

- NZPA