Pat Perez

Patrick Anthony Perez (born March 1, 1976) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

Perez was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and is of Mexican-American descent. He is married to Ashley Perez.^[1] He experienced his first PGA Tour victory in 2009 at the Bob Hope Classic; he has finished second there twice. His career high in the Official World Golf Ranking was 16th in 2018.

On January 22, 2009, Perez finished the first 36 holes of the Bob Hope Classic with a 124 (−20), the lowest score, relative to par in PGA Tour history through two rounds. The start set or tied several records,^[2] including tying the record for low score (124) in consecutive rounds. Perez went on to win the tournament by three strokes over John Merrick, a win secured when Perez hit his second shot on the par 5, 18th hole, from 200 yards to 3 feet to win with a closing eagle for his first tour win.

Perez also experienced a championship of another sort first-hand. As a neighbor of baseball player Pat Burrell, he had been very close to the Philadelphia Phillies for several years. In a January 2010 interview, he revealed, “I was part of that (2008) team (that won the World Series) because I know all of the guys, I had my locker there, I would come and see them all the time. I would really root for them like I was part of the team.” When asked if he had the locker during spring training, he replied “No, the whole thing. I would hit balls with Jimmy Rollins, go out on the field and play catch, whatever. I was like one of them team for that year.” When Burrell left as a free agentafter the 2008 season and signed with the Tampa Bay Rays, Perez called the news “Worse than me getting hurt.”^[3]

Perez spent much of the 2015–16 season out of golf after shoulder surgery. He earned his first win since 2009 at the 2016 OHL Classic at Mayakoba.^[4] He was also the first player since Harrison Frazar (2011 St. Jude Classic) to win a PGA Tour event while playing on a Medical Extension. Perez won the CIMB Classic in 2017