No more PGA Tour Perks for Craig

24 of the first 28 winners of the Players Championhip were also Major winners. From Jack Nicklaus in 1974, through Tiger Woods in 2001. These include a passel of current or future Hall-of-Famers named Floyd, Trevino, Norman, Price, Couples, Sutton and Love, among other luminaries. But that stellar roster of champions has slowed to a crawl in recent years—only two of the last six champs have hoisted Major hardware, though the resumes of several of these latter victors like Fred Funk and Adam Scott are impressive regardless.

Not so Craig Perks, who followed Tiger to the winners circle at Sawgrass by virtue of his unlikely win in 2002, and now, can only follow Woods and the rest of the Top Cats on television. You might recall Perks chipped in for eagle on the 16th, rolled in a bomb for deuce on the watery 17th, and chipped in again for par on the last. He remains the only player to make The Players his inaugural win. Doesn’t look like there will be a follow-up. The last ripple the affable Aussie made on the PGA Tour was July of ‘05 when he tied for 13th, and made nearly a hundred grand at the Western Open. Since then, he has endured a decimating stretch of one cut made in 42 tries through the balance of ‘05, all of ‘06 and ‘07, before quietly fading from the Tour last autumn.

Bereft of a Tour card after his five-year exemption ran out for his big win, Perks has now embraced the stay-at-home life as director of instruction at a high-end country club in Broussard, Louisiana. He is a picture-book example of the fact that, for all but the very top tier, success at golf’s highest level can be an ephemeral moment.

Be sure and visit www.vagabondgolfer.com and click on the sunglass icon to enter a new Players Championship contest, and perhaps win a cool pair of Rudy Project Sunglasses.