Stranger to leaderboard, but not to pressure

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AUGUSTA, GA.

There is an intermission in the middle of Kenny Perry's golf swing, and there is a story behind that.

There is a glint in Perry's eye when he competes, and there is a story behind that.

There is a new-found touch to Perry's putting, and there is a story behind that.

Perry is tied for the lead of The Masters after two rounds, and that is a story in itself.

Playing in his first Masters since 2005, Perry shot a 5-under-par 67 on a windy Friday at Augusta National to move into a first-place tie with Chad Campbell at 9 under par, and position himself, at 48, to become the oldest Masters champion.

Perry grew up in Franklin, Ky. He still lives there. He started playing golf at 7 with his father at Franklin Country Club.

"I'm burning inside, wanting to kick everybody's butt," Perry said. "I've got a will inside of me -- my dad taught me. He beat on me so bad as a kid, in any kind of game or sport, whatever, I cried all the time.

"Then he would laugh in my face as he was doing it. You know, he was a smart man."

Perry didn't beat his father at golf until he was 14. They played 18 holes on the Franklin nine-hole course, and Ken Sr. led heading into the final approach shot.

"It was a par 3, and he's one up on me, and he says, 'I've got you again,' " Perry said. "I hit a 4-iron into the hole for a one."

Having helped the United States win the Ryder Cup in his home state last year, Perry's foremost remaining goal is to win The Masters.

He shot a 33 on the back nine Friday, then he remembered his father's generosity as well as his gamesmanship.

"I was probably 7 years old," Perry said. "We had about 50 balls and he would sit on the ground and smoke this big cigar, smoke would be flying and he would be sitting on a towel laying on the ground, and he would be teeing them up right after another and I would hit them as fast as I could hit them, and we did that hour after hour after hour.

"I still smell the cigar, the grass. Any time I catch a whiff of that, my dad instantly comes back to me."

Maybe that's why he's playing so well at Augusta National, where cigar smoke wafts through the pines as surely as the patrons' roars.

He picks the club up steeply, then rotates his torso, then pauses, then turns through the ball, hitting a tight draw.

"I had a neck injury that caused my golf swing," he said. "It got to the point where I really could not rotate my shoulders. So I started picking the club up, and that's how my swing came about.

"This has been a blessing to me, I think their swing is wrong and mine's right."

Perry never was known as a deft putter, but he was playing at Bent Pines in Vero Beach, Fla., where he's an honorary member, and a friend gave him a putter with a worn-out grip. Perry "threw it in the back" of his truck that day and has been using it for two years.

"The face is so dead on this putter that the ball won't take off very fast when you hit it," Perry said. "Ever since he gave me that putter, I have putted beautifully."

Perry brought the rest of his family to Augusta, where he played a "stress-free" round on Friday, positioning himself to become the oldest Masters champion.

"Can I?" Perry said, maybe remembering that 4-iron from 30 years ago. "Yes, I think I can."