From the desert comes an obituary that requires no condolences:
The reputation of Pat Perez as that hot-headed dude who regurgitated a four-shot lead at Pebble Beach in 2002, made quadruple-bogey on the 72nd hole while leading by one, did really mean things to his three-wood and never has won on the PGA Tour, ended Sunday.
It died at age 6 in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, yielding to the fresh image of a rather stoic Perez striking a six-iron in a gusty late-afternoon chill on No. 18 of the Palmer Course at La Quinta, then watching that thing soar and land and nuzzle up three feet from the cup, so picturesque you could almost hear violins.
Farewell, worn-out image of Perez. Hello, closing eagle. Hello, fifth-round 69 in suddenly testy conditions. Hello, 33 under par, 327 total, three shots ahead of Long Beach native and UCLA product John Merrick. Hello, first victory -- in his eighth tour season.
Hello, fresh thoughts.
His San Diegan father Tony thought, "What this tournament has done, it puts Pebble hopefully in the background. Now we're going to look at this shot instead of other shots. Redemption."
And as Perez doffed his black cap and made the happiest golf walk of his 32-year life toward the green after a winter of profound toil in practice, "What I thought really was, it's about time," he said. "I put the work in, it's been just over seven years. It's about time."
Still, he planned to "get smashed tonight and wake up tomorrow and watch the highlights. Then I'll realize."
In the six years he closed Pebble Beach by hitting shots both out of bounds and into the ocean and by saying, "I will always remember that last hole, always," Perez had minored in vague contention. He'd logged 26 top-10 finishes, 12 in the last two years, but never committed any graphic squandering. Even if he did give his golf ball the middle finger -- and, really, who hasn't? -- in Miami in 2005, he had calmed gradually.
By the time he led the birdie bonanza for three days here and turned up Sunday at 30-under, three shots behind Steve Stricker, he could describe himself with an indispensable word, "ready," even if Stricker seemed too scalding to make the fifth round any referendum on Perez's moxie.
But when Perez rapidly birdied Nos. 2, 3 and 4 to catch up, then sent his tee shot on No. 5 caroming off a rock and into a drowning, it wound up revealing his long-improved temperament. "Before, if I made double on five, the tournament was over," he said. "I look at that as just a speed bump now."
