CROMWELL, Conn. — There was no Masters-style meltdown Sunday for Kenny Perry.
Perry shot 63 to finish with a tournament-record 258 and win the Travelers Championship by three strokes over Paul Goydos and David Toms, two other golfers in their 40s.
The 48-year old Perry, whose bogey-bogey finish at Augusta kept him from winning the Masters in April, tied a course record with a 61 Thursday and led after each of the first two rounds here.
He trailed by a stroke to Goydos heading into the final round but responded by shooting a 32 on the front nine and was up by five strokes heading to the par-4 15th.
Goydos, 45, made a 20-foot eagle putt from the fringe on 15 and birdied 16. But he missed his birdie putt on 17 to the right. Perry birdied 15, and put the tournament away by making birdie on 17 after hitting a 164-yard approach to within 8 feet.
“Everyone kind of asks about the Augusta hangover deal,” he said. “I guess I kind of shoved that aside a little bit. So that makes me feel pretty good.”
Perry acknowledged he was thinking about the Masters as he played the back nine, and told himself to play aggressive.
“I knew that I had to keep making birdies,” he said.
“I wasn’t going to let up. I wasn’t going to play defensive golf. I learned something from that mistake.”
Goydos said he felt he needed to shoot a 63 to win the tournament, but didn’t start playing well until the 15th hole.
“I don’t want to run and hide from that,” he said. “He played like a guy who’s won 14 times. I played more like a guy who’s won twice, especially early in the round.”