Jet-lagged Perry back to defend

MILWAUKEE - Still yawning and a bit bleary-eyed, defending champion Kenny Perry tried to adjust his golf game Wednesday during a practice round at the U.S. Bank Championship.

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He was among a dozen players looking to shake their jet lag and reset their internal clocks after spending the weekend at Royal Troon in Scotland.

The U.S. Bank Championship, formerly the Greater Milwaukee Open, got a title sponsor for the first time in its 37-year history this year and also a new date: It was moved from the week before the British Open to the week after.

Perry never sleeps during flights, so he watched three movies on his portable DVD player to kill most of the eight hours it took to go from Glasgow, Scotland, to Chicago.

The time difference was not the only change. Perry needed to adapt to softer fairways and greens after spending a week overseas.

"I woke up about 2:30, ready to go," he said.

After landing at O'Hare International Airport on Monday, Perry caught a 90-minute ride to Milwaukee, dropped off his clubs at Brown Deer Park and hit the sack by 8 p.m.

Tossing and turning until 6 a.m., he finally grabbed some breakfast and hit the golf course at 7, practiced for 11 hours and again hit the pillow at 8 Tuesday night. He slept in Wednesday - until 4 a.m.

"Which will be good tomorrow because I've got a 7:45 tee time," Perry said. "I'll be OK. If I feel rested and I wake up early, that will be all right. Hopefully, by the end of the week I'll be good."

He sure was last year, when he charged past Steve Allan and Heath Slocum on the back nine to win by a stroke.

Perry is coming off a 16th-place finish at the British Open, which he considered skipping, worried it might mess up his game with two of his favorite tournaments coming up - this one and next week's Buick Open.

But he figured that at 43 he ought to capitalize while his game is peaking.

"It actually got me better prepared to play in this tournament as opposed to just sitting at home," Perry said.

Perry's game is a good fit for this event, with the winner claiming $630,000 of the $3.5 million purse.

The Brown Deer layout measures 6,759 yards, one of the shortest on the PGA Tour, placing a premium on iron play and putting while neutralizing the long hitters.