Golf: Perks leads charge of the 'why-not' boys

By ANDY FARRELL

Where will the "why-not boys," as the peerless American television commentator Johnny Miller referred to them, strike next?

After Kevin Sutherland won the World Matchplay and Craig Perks became the Players' champion, is the Masters set for an equally unlikely winner?

How unlikely do you want? There is first-timer unlikely, and then there is Seve Ballesteros unlikely ...

Of all the four majors, the Masters has the best chance of getting a renowned champion due to the fact that it limits the field to just under 100 players, all of whom have won certain tournaments or finished high up on money lists or the world rankings.

Apart from the first two years, the only player to win on his first appearance at Augusta was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. There are eight professionals making their first appearance this year, including Sutherland and Perks, plus the European Ryder Cup players Paul McGinley and Niclas Fasth.

Sutherland has already been to Augusta and made the rookie mistake of being so busy talking in the back of the car that he failed to notice one of the glories of a first visit to the club, the drive up Magnolia Lane.

But the changes made at Augusta since Tiger Woods' historic victory last April may mean that a fresh eye, registering what is in front of it rather than what is different, has an advantage.

Four of the top five players in the world - Woods, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia - have won on the US Tour this season. Els has also won twice on the long-haul European Tour, where Retief Goosen also gave a command performance in Perth.

But of the 15 US Tour events up to the Masters, seven have been claimed by first-time winners. There were only nine in the whole of last year.

The most obvious were the wins by Perks and Sutherland in the two events with seven-figure first prizes. Both are highly likeable men, though neither is in the first flush of youth.

Sutherland, from Sacramento, is 37, and Perks is 35. Both took their time getting to the big league.

Sutherland had to perform early in the season just to get into the World Matchplay. He was the 62nd seed, beat David Duval in the first round in extra holes after being two down with two to play, and never gave up until he had defeated Scott McCarron in the final at La Costa.

Perks also showed incredible perseverance in winning at Sawgrass.

On their big days, neither Sutherland nor Perks drove the ball well, but just got on with the job in hand.

Sutherland is noted for playing approach shots out of the rough.

Perks' specialty is around the greens. He chipped in twice on the final three holes in his surge to victory, for eagle on the 16th and for a bizarre par at the last.

"The way golf on this tour is going, there are a lot of people breaking a lot of rules, breaking a lot of records," he said. ' "This is only my third year on tour, so experience-wise I consider myself a young player."

Before they made up the unlikely final pairing for the final round at Sawgrass, Perks, then ranked 203rd in the world, and Carl Paulson, ranked 181st, agreed on one thing.

Paulson said: "This question about nobody winning this tournament for their first time - Craig said he had thought about it and had asked himself: 'Why not?' We talked about that, kind of giving each other the 'Why not'?"

All power to golf's "why-not boys."

- INDEPENDENT