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By Tom Hanson
Naples Daily News
Look at the 2006 PGA Tour money list and the team of Kenny Perry and John Huston would be the least likely choice to win this week's Franklin Templeton Shootout at Tiburón Golf Club.
Huston is 159th. Perry is 104th.
"I'm sure we'd be ranked last among the teams in the field," Huston said.
But don't discount this pair. They are the defending champions and, more importantly, longtime friends.
 | | Huston and Perry won the 2005 Shootout by one stroke over the team of Fred Couples and Adam Scott. |
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"I'm looking forward to it because we have a comfort factor because we have been good friends for so long," Huston said. "I have a feeling that we will do well again."
Last year, no one gave Huston and Perry much chance of winning either. Perry, coming off a two-win season, played through a nerve injury that numbed his left side. Huston was also hurt, making only three cuts in 2005. To top it off, the duo headed into Sunday's final round trailing the prohibitive and crowd favorites -- Fred Couples, the King of the Silly Season, and Adam Scott.
But Huston and Perry prevailed with a 13-under 59 in the final-round scramble format.
"To beat Fred Couples and Adam Scott, two superstar names, is a bit of an upset in the fan's mind probably," Perry said. "But John and I go back a long ways and we have a special chemistry."
The Huston/Perry combination did leave Scott Hoch feeling lost. For years, Perry played with Hoch in the Shootout. Last year though, Hoch pulled out because of a wrist injury. Huston replaced Hoch and the rest is history. While Huston and Perry defend, Hoch is back and playing with Jeff Sluman. But it won't be the same for Hoch.
Perry jokes about Hoch's reaction to the win with a new partner.
"Scott said, 'You know you messed things up for us. Now we won't be able to play together next year.'
'I said: You laid down on me every time we played together and we couldn't win. I finally found a partner I could win with,''' Perry recalled.
But Perry might not be the best partner after his 2006 season. A knee injury in March forced him to go under the knife. The fact that he failed to record a single top-10 finish shows that Perry didn't meet past expectations.
"It's been very tough," Perry said of the 2006 campaign. "I never recovered from knee surgery. And I got into some bad swing habits from it and never got rid of them and it kind of put me in a big tailspin."
Huston said he doesn't have any excuses for a poor season other than he's getting past his prime. The 45-year-old said that his bread and butter, his putting, has left him over the past five years. Huston said he doesn't have the yips. He blames his putting woes on getting older.
"I guess it comes with age," Huston said. "I played with Tom Kite a few years ago. He still hit as good as ever but he couldn't get ball in the hole from 10 feet like he used to. A couple times a round and that's all it takes. You miss a couple of putts that you ordinarily would've made every time earlier in your career and that starts getting into your head."
Both Perry and Huston found some positive in their sub-par seasons. They both got to spend more time at home. Huston doesn't expect to get into too many events next season. He considered this a plus.
"It's good to get away it from it a little bit," Huston said. "Being away helps clear my head and kind of frees me up a little bit to see the big picture. So when I come back I can enjoy it a little bit more."
As for contending at this week's Shootout, Huston feels that the team format might be just what a couple of struggling golfers need.
"That's the good thing about The Franklin Templeton Shootout, in a team event I still hit plenty of good shots," Huston said. "I hit a lot of good putts and hopefully the timing of it all, Kenny and I can kind of cover each other up when one of us hits a bad shot."
And what's a few bad shots among two good friends?
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