By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Kenny Perry flipped through a mental Thesaurus to find enough superlatives to describe his opening-round 6-under-par 64 at the Sony Open in Hawai'i.

"Great ... fantastic, amazing ..." Pick a word, Perry used them all.

But as happy as Perry was with a portion of the lead he shares with Retief Goosen — and there was a recurring pinch-me quality to it — somebody in Franklin, Ky., potentially figures to be even more thrilled.

They have learned in his hometown that when Perry fares well, it is joy to be shared. His triumphs are the gifts that keep on giving in the close-knit community of 48,000.

More than reflected fame, he has brought college opportunities to a town where both college degrees and the money to pay for them are in short supply.

Over the 15 years he has played the PGA Tour, Perry has made it his policy to give 5 percent of his earnings back in several forms, including funding college scholarships for needy students from his hometown.

Last year alone, his standing at 27th place on the PGA money list meant $100,000 for a trust fund (currently amounting to nearly $500,000) that awards two scholarships a year to attend David Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn.

In this, the 42-year-old Perry's career is more than a story of remarkable triumph by a small-town boy made good. It is also an inspiring tale of someone paying back a long-ago debt of faith with considerable interest.

For it was Perry who, in 1987, needed a helping hand to take his last and longest shot at a career on the PGA Tour. He'd failed in previous attempts to get through qualifying school and had run out of willing sponsors.

"I was pretty much on my last (financial) leg and I wanted to go to Q-School one last time. I felt that was it for me but I didn't know how I was going to get there."

His "angel" surfaced in Ronnie Ferguson, an elder at the Franklin Church of Christ. "He didn't need to give me that money; he didn't have $5,000 to be giving away," Perry said. "But he gave it to me. I'll always remember this — he looked at me and said, 'If you make the Tour, we've got to give something back. But if you don't make the Tour, you don't owe me a dime.'

"That, above all, really inspired an encouraged me to make it."

At first Perry gave some of his winnings to the golf team at Lipscomb, his wife Sandy's alma mater. He also obtained a loan for $2.5 million to build Country Creek, the only public golf course in the area, a facility that now sees 30,000 rounds a year.

But as Perry's fortunes on the Tour rose, he began putting money into scholarships. Now, in some of the places he plays, his gallery includes recipients of those grants.

With an $810,000 pay check going to the winner of this week's Sony Open, there are a lot of people in Franklin rooting for their local boy to make good again.