COLUMBUS — Travis Perkins has waited a long time to show his hometown what he’s capable of on a golf course.
The 30-year-old Perkins, who graduated from Olentangy High School in suburban Columbus, will get his chance this week when he tees off for the first time at the Memorial Tournament. Perkins finally qualified for the PGA Tour this year after seven failed attempts.
“I was ready to quit last year. That’s probably the closest I’ve ever been,” Perkins admitted. “I was 30 years old, I hadn’t done much, I was making enough to get by but I wasn’t getting the results I wanted.”
Perkins showed promise at a young age. He led Florida Southern College to three national championships and earned All-American honors, but he has labored for nearly a decade without breaking through in professional golf.
“But the thing that always struck me about Travis was his work ethic, and he loved the game,” said Lynn Martin, former Olentangy High School athletic director.
 “You’ve got to hand it to a kid who, after a successful college career, continues knocking around the minitours. That takes a lot of internal strength.”
His struggles aren’t over yet. Perkins has qualified for just eight tournaments this year and earned about $23,000. He drives the ball farther than the average tour pro but not as straight, and his putting is subpar.
Lately, he’s been feeling pain in his right knee, and an MRI last week revealed some fluid and inflammation.
But Perkins says nothing will stop him from playing in his hometown.
“I was the happiest person on earth,” his brother, Troy, wrote in an e-mail. “My whole family is very proud of him. He has had some very hard times the past eight or nine years. It was an epic struggle. So come the opening day of the Memorial, we all will be watching either in person or hole by hole on the Internet.”

Singh, Els out of Memorial

DUBLIN — Vijay Singh withdrew Monday from the Memorial because of a rib injury sustained last week, and Ernie Els said on his Web site that he won’t be playing until next week.
That would leave the Memorial with six of the top 10 players in the world. Tiger Woods, recovering from April 15 surgery on his left knee, did not enter last week and Adam Scott decided not to play.
Singh, who won the 1997 Memorial, said he injured a muscle in his ribs upon arriving in England last week for the BMW Championship and felt pain while warming up on the range ahead of the first round.
Tournament officials were trying to contact Els’ managers after learning from his Web site that he wasn’t coming.
“I have a week off now before my next tournament, the Stanford St. Jude Championship, starts on June 5,” Els wrote Monday.

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