Kenny Perry turned pro the year Sean O'Hair was born.
That age difference means nothing on the golf course, though, and the two men proved it last year when they teammed to win the Franklin Templeton Shootout.
"I think it was probably my best memory of last year," O'Hair said. "We ham-and-egged it pretty good. Kenny was just rock solid and I was hitting it pretty long at the time."
"You're still hitting it long, aren't you?" Perry was quick to ask.
The difference in Sunday's scramble format last year? Well, Perry remembers the 13th hole at Tiburon, in particular. Had they used his drive on the par 5, they'd be hitting 3-woods to the green. Instead, O'Hair's drive left a 5-iron approach.
"So to me it's awesome because I'm a pretty straight driver and if I can just get it in the fairway and turn him loose, we're going to have a great week no matter what," Perry said. "Win, lose, whatever, it doesn't matter. We both like old cars, we talk hot rods and we just have a great time. We compliment each other very well and it's just fun, whatever.
"We're going to stick the needle in all these other young teams and smile at them and hopefully we can beat them."
The field for this year's Franklin Templeton Shootout features six major champions among the 24 participants. Combined, the field has won 140 PGA TOUR events, including 14 by Perry -- the recently named Champions Tour Player of the Year -- and four by O'Hair.
"I'm going to ride the stallion here," O'Hair said. "He's obviously playing pretty well and just see how it goes. I'm just looking forward to having a fun week."
While O'Hair has been dodging snowstorms at home in Philadelphia, Perry has been in Vero Beach working on his game at Bent Pine Golf Club, where he worked for five years before getting on the PGA TOUR in 1986.
"I came in last Monday and I was playing 36 a day with all the boys and put a lot of rounds in and lost a lot of money," Perry said. "I had to give way too many shots down there. But I played a lot of competition so I liked it. I was hoping to put the pressure on me to try to see if it will carry over and get me better and sharper for this week."
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