Editing Craig Perks

{{short description|New Zealand golfer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=September 2013}}
{{Infobox golfer
| name              = Craig Perks
| image             = 
| imagesize         = <!-- e.g. 250px (default is 200px) -->
| caption           = 
| fullname          = Craig William Perks
| nickname          = 
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1967|1|6|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Palmerston North]],<br>[[New Zealand]]
| death_date        = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|1967|1|6|df=y}} -->
| death_place       = 
| height            = {{height|ft=6|in=2}}
| weight            = {{convert|200|lb|kg st|abbr=on}}
| nationality       = {{NZL}}
| residence         = 
| spouse            = 
| partner           = 
| children          = 
| college           = [[Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns|Southwestern Louisiana]],<br>[[Oklahoma Sooners|Oklahoma]]
| yearpro           = 1993
| extour            = [[PGA Tour]]<br>[[PGA Tour of Australasia]]<br>[[Nike Tour]]<br>[[Hooters Tour]]
| prowins           = 5
| pgawins           = 1
| champwins         = <!-- Number of Champions Tour wins -->
| seneurowins       = <!-- Number of European Seniors Tour wins -->
| otherwins         = 4
| majorwins         = <!-- Number of Major Championship wins -->
| masters           = CUT: 2002, 2003, 2004
| usopen            = CUT: 2002
| open              = T50: 2002
| pga               = T29: 2002
| wghofid           = <!-- World Golf Hall of Fame member ID -->
| wghofyear         = <!-- World Golf Hall of Fame year inducted -->
| award1            = <!-- Achievement or award details -->
| year1             = <!-- Year(s) of achievement or award -->
| award2            = 
| year2             = 
| awardssection     = <!-- location of awards page or section -->
}}
'''Craig William Perks''' (born 6 January 1967) is a [[professional golfer]] from [[New Zealand]] who won the [[2002 Players Championship]].

==Early life and amateur career==
Born and raised in [[Palmerston North]], New Zealand, Perks played college golf in the United States at the [[Oklahoma Sooners|University of Oklahoma]] in [[Norman, Oklahoma|Norman]] and the [[Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns|University of Southwestern Louisiana]] in [[Lafayette, Louisiana]].

==Professional career==
Perks turned professional in 1993 and played on the second tier [[Nike Tour]] for several seasons. He became a member of the [[PGA Tour]] after a tie for 35th in the [[1999 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates|1999]] [[Qualifying School]] earned him his tour card for the [[2000 PGA Tour|2000]] season.

At age 35 in [[2002 PGA Tour|2002]], Perks unexpectedly won [[2002 Players Championship|The Players Championship]], one of the most prestigious tournaments on the PGA Tour. In the final pairing, he played the final three holes in only nine shots, three under par, with only one putt. Perks chipped in for eagle, sank a {{convert|25|ft|round=0.5|adj=on}} birdie putt on the Island Green, then chipped in for par to win by two strokes. He was even par 72 for the final round, but only had two pars in the last fourteen {{nowrap|holes.<ref name=pitcbat>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/vault/2002/04/01/321158/pitched-battle-thanks-to-a-couple-of-amazing-hole-outs-when-he-needed-them-most-little-known-craig-perks-fought-off-a-star-studded-field-at-the-players-championship |magazine=Sports Illustrated |last=Van Sickle |first=Gary |title=Pitched battle |date=1 April 2002 |accessdate=28 April 2017}}</ref><ref name=dmpftr>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-VVWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yesDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6872%2C6772606 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |title=Drama marks Perks' first title run |date=25 March 2002 |page=2E}}</ref><ref name=espnsco>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/golf/story?id=1357212 |title=Players Championship top finishers' scorecards |work=ESPN |date=24 March 2002 |access-date=30 April 2012}}</ref>}} Starting the year at 256 in the [[Official World Golf Ranking|world rankings]], Perks climbed from 203 to 64 with the win,<ref name=ampfch>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uQAiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0n8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6761%2C7095164 |work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |location=(Florida) |agency=Associated Press |title=A million Perks for TPC champ |date=25 March 2002 |page=1C}}</ref><ref name=owgr02wk12>{{cite web |url=http://dps.endavadigital.net/owgr/doc/content/archive/2002/owgr12f.pdf |work=Official World Golf Rankings |title=2002: Week 12 |date=24 March 2002 |accessdate=30 April 2002 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and was named the [[New Zealand Sportsman of the Year]] for 2002. It granted a five-year exemption on tour, but was his only win in 202 starts.

After making only one cut on the PGA Tour during [[2006 PGA Tour|2006]] and [[2007 PGA Tour|2007]], he announced his retirement in November 2007,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pgatour.com/2007/r/11/25/perks_retires.ap/index.html |title=Former Players Championship winner Perks retires |publisher=PGA Tour |date=25 November 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127025413/http://www.pgatour.com/2007/r/11/25/perks_retires.ap/index.html |archivedate=27 November 2007}}</ref> and became a commentator on the [[Golf Channel]].

==Professional wins (5)==
===PGA Tour wins (1)===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! Legend
|-  style="background:#f2ecce;"
| Players Championships (1)
|- 
| Other PGA Tour (0) 
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
!No.
!Date
!Tournament
!Winning score
!To par
!Margin of<br>victory
!Runner-up
|- style="background:#f2ecce;"
|align=center|1
|align=right|24 Mar [[2002 PGA Tour|2002]]
|[[2002 Players Championship|The Players Championship]]
|align=right|71-68-69-72=280
|align=center|−8
|2 strokes
|{{flagicon|TRI}} [[Stephen Ames]]
|}

===Hooters Tour wins (4)===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
!No.
!Date
!Tournament
!Winning score
!To par
!Margin of<br>victory
!Runner-up
|-
|align=center|1
|align=right|4 Jul 1993
|Croatan National Classic
|align=right|66-67-71-71=275
|align=center|−13
|2 strokes
|{{flagicon|USA}} [[Mike Brisky]]
|-
|align=center|2
|align=right|8 Aug 1993
|Collins Pro Classic
|align=right|73-68-67-71=279
|align=center|−9
|1 stroke
|{{flagicon|USA}} [[Jeff Barlow (golfer)|Jeff Barlow]]
|-
|align=center|3
|align=right|18 Sep 1994
|Boast Classic
|align=right|66-69-68=203*
|align=center|−13
|3 strokes
|{{flagicon|USA}} [[Andy Morse]]
|-
|align=center|4
|align=right|30 Apr 1995
|Coca-Cola Classic
|align=right|64-65-69-62=260
|align=center|−24
|2 strokes
|{{flagicon|USA}} [[Dennis Zinkon]]
|}
<small>''<nowiki>*</nowiki>Note: The 1994 Boast Classic was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.''</small>

==Playoff record==
'''PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (0–1)'''
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent!!Result
|-style="background:#F2C1D1;"
|align=center|1
|[[1999–2000 PGA Tour of Australasia|2000]]
|[[Crown Lager New Zealand Open]]
|{{flagicon|NZL}} [[Michael Campbell]]
|Lost to eagle on second extra hole
|}

'''Nike Tour playoff record (0–1)'''
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent!!Result
|-style="background:#F2C1D1;"
|align=center|1
|[[1996 Nike Tour|1996]]
|[[Nike Carolina Classic]]
|{{flagicon|CAN}} [[Glen Hnatiuk]]
|Lost to birdie on first extra hole
|}

==Results in major championships==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"
!Tournament
!2002
!2003
!2004
|-
|align=left|[[Masters Tournament]]
|CUT
|CUT
|CUT
|-
|align=left|[[U.S. Open (golf)|U.S. Open]]
|CUT
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|-
|align=left|[[The Open Championship]]
|T50
|CUT
|CUT
|-
|align=left|[[PGA Championship]]
|T29
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|}
{{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}}
CUT = missed the half-way cut<br>
"T" = tied

==The Players Championship==
===Wins (1)===
{|class="wikitable"
!Year!!Championship!!54 holes!!Winning score!!Margin!!Runner-up
|- style="background:#f2ecce;"
| [[2002 Players Championship|2002]] || [[The Players Championship]] || 1 shot deficit || −8 (71-68-69-72=280) || 2 strokes || {{flagicon|TTO}} [[Stephen Ames]]
|}

===Results timeline===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"
!Tournament
!2002
!2003
!2004
!2005
!2006
!2007
|-
|align=left|[[The Players Championship]]
|style="background:lime;"|'''1'''
|T17
|CUT
|CUT
|CUT
|CUT
|}
{{legend|lime|Win}}
CUT = missed the halfway cut<br/>
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

==Results in World Golf Championships==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!Tournament!!2002
|-
|align="left"|[[WGC-Match Play|Match Play]]
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|-
|align="left"|[[WGC-Championship|Championship]]
|61
|-
|align="left"|[[WGC-Invitational|Invitational]]
|T42
|}
{{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}}
"T" = Tied

==Team appearances==
*[[World Cup (men's golf)|World Cup]] (representing New Zealand): [[2002 WGC-World Cup|2002]], [[2004 WGC-World Cup|2004]]

==See also==
*[[1999 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates]]
*[[2000 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{PGATour player|10912}}
*{{OWGR|3852}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|aw}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Cameron Brown (triathlete)|Cameron Brown]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Halberg Awards|New Zealand's Sportsman of the Year]] | years=2002}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Ben Fouhy]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Players Championship champions}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perks, Craig}}
[[Category:New Zealand male golfers]]
[[Category:PGA Tour golfers]]
[[Category:Oklahoma Sooners men's golfers]]
[[Category:Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's golfers]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Palmerston North]]
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand sportsmen]]