Jerry Kelly has had some bad luck with putters this year. The airline broke one on a return trip from Hawaii. Another came back with a head that was flipping and flopping in various directions.
So Kelly went to the garage and grabbed an Odyssey 2-Ball putter out of storage — the same model that had been mangled — and stuck it in the bag for the tournament in Boca Raton two weeks ago. He finished that event with a 65 and tied for seventh.
“It’s the one that I’ve won some tournaments with a long time ago and it really liked being back in the lineup,” Kelly said.
That good putting — along with very few mistakes — has Kelly back on top and in position to win his 13th tournament on the PGA Tour Champions.
Kelly shot a tournament-record 10-under 62 on Friday to grab the first-round lead of the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth. He shot 33 on the front nine and closed with a 29, the lowest nine-hole score on the PGA Tour Champions this season.
Kelly leads a group of four Hall of Famers. He is three strokes better than Ernie Els, who shot a bogey-free 65. Vijay Singh, who had to drop out of the Masters because of back issues, shot a 6-under 66. Bernhard Langer, the 2013 Mitsubishi Electric champion, and Retief Goosen are tied for fourth with 67s.
Two-time defending champion Stephen Ames took a double bogey on the first hole and shot a 72. Tournament host Stewart Cink shot 69 and is tied for 12th.
Kelly birdied three of the first four holes before making par on the final five holes. But the magic returned when he made the turn. He birdied the first five holes on the back nine, birdied No. 16 and rolled in a two-footer for par on the 18th hole.
Credit: David King
Credit: David King
“I just kind of kept going,” Kelly said. “It was just very consistent. I played away from some sucker pins, which I haven’t in the past here and gone down some of those slopes and left myself some tough up-and-downs.”
It was a near-perfect day. He hit all 14 fairways, missed only one green in regulation — the 200-yard par-3 eighth, but recovered for par — and needed 25 putts to complete his round.
It was his lowest round of the year and the low round of his career at TPC Sugarloaf.
Kelly has battled his way through some physical issues this spring. A shoulder problem forced him to withdraw from the Cologuard Classic and kept him idle for nearly a month. He continues to deal with rheumatoid arthritis, along with bad back with two bulging disks.
“I’ve had some injury time off, and I feel like I haven’t played a whole lot,” Kelly said. “I’m excited to get some tournaments under my belt and get going. It’s just nice to have a good start, and it just happens to be my best start.”
Kelly said he was seeing the lines on putts all day Friday. He hasn’t followed the in crowd to use the AimPoint method, preferring to line up, confer with his caddie, and let it go.
“We’re just very instinctive, and we’re pretty much always right on with each other,” Kelly said. “We always do a good job of reading, just a matter of if I’m doing my job of hitting my lines, and I was today.”
Kelly said he will take no crazy expectations into the weekend.
“Expectations are not very fun to have, so I’m going out there with zero,” he said. “I’ve got a few things that I need to work on all across the board. I’m just looking forward to getting in the hunt, getting into the feelings of being in or near the lead on the weekend and using those feelings. I miss them.”
Monday qualifier Arnold in the hunt
Sam Arnold is a well-known force in the Southern Ohio PGA. Now he’s getting a chance to expand his sphere of influence.
Arnold won the Monday qualifier to get into this week’s field and has made the most of it. Arnold shot an opening-round 69 and is one of four players tied for 12th. He had one bad swing — a shot that went out of bounds on No. 7 and cost him a double bogey. Otherwise, he acquitted himself nicely.
“I’ve been working on my game religiously,” Arnold said. “I think my confidence is getting there. These guys are so good out here, it’s crazy. I made one bad swing today, and I went from 5 under to 3 under, and you just can’t make those mistakes when these guys are that good.”
Arnold, 53, is general manager at the Vineyard Golf Course in suburban Cincinnati. A recent inductee into the Greater Cincinnati PGA Hall of Fame, he won the first Southern Ohio PGA event of the season.
“I really don’t have anything to lose,” he said. “I have a great job back home. I’ve been at my facility for 28 years, and they’re very supportive. It gives me the opportunity to get out and do the things I love.”
Arnold is playing in his first PGA Tour Champions event and still has to get over the fact he’s sharing a locker room with some of the game’s legends.
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