Jerry Kelly left the golf course looking for answers on Saturday, this despite having a share of the lead with 18 holes left to play. He quipped how the solution may sometimes be found in the bottom of a wine glass.
Instead, he found it during a post-round phone call from his wife, Carol.
“She told me what I was doing wrong,” Kelly said. “That was the big positive piece. She told me I wasn’t in posture in my setup, and I can’t stay in posture if I’m not in posture to start. Every single bad shot I hit, I knew I was out. To be able to key on something that simple was a big help.”
Kelly didn’t hit many poor shots on Sunday and had another good putting round to win the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth. Kelly closed with a 5-under 67 to set a tournament scoring record of 20-under 196 and beat Ernie Els, who shot 68, by one shot.
It was the 13th win for Kelly on PGA Tour Champions and first since his victory at the SAS Championship in the fall. The win was another milestone for Kelly, who returned after an injury to his shoulder earlier this season and has had longtime battles with arthritis.
“It felt good coming back and getting it done,” Kelly said. “I thought I was going to be done for the year and all of a sudden you’re really happy to be playing golf and not be on the sidelines. It puts things in perspective.”
Kelly and Els began the day tied at 15 under and nobody else produced enough early momentum to get into the hunt, leaving it essentially a two-player game.
Kelly birdied four of the first five holes and had a four-shot lead going to No. 6, but Els cut the margin in half with an eagle. Kelly lost another shot on the ninth hole when his par putt horseshoed out for a bogey. Kelly made the turn at 18 under, one shot ahead of Els.
Els caught up by making birdie from the bunker at No. 13, but Kelly made a 5-footer for birdie at No. 15 to regain the lead.
Kelly’s biggest moment came at the tough par-4 17th. Els crushed a drive but left a 9-iron short and didn’t hit the best approach, leaving him with a par. Kelly took advantage of the opening and rolled in his 12-footer for birdie and a two-shot lead going to the final hole.
“For some reason I felt like I knew that line of that putt,” Kelly said. “After missing the one there on the first day so poorly, I kind of understood the green a little more.”
Kelly also caught a break from being to watch Angel Cabrera, the third member of their pairing, roll the same putt from the other direction. Kelly was talking to the putt as it neared the hole and took a couple steps to the side as it tumbled in.
With a two-shot lead, Kelly was able to play the percentages on the water-fronted par-5 18th. He hit a wedge with his second shot and wedged his third shot to within 12 feet. After Els missed a long eagle try, all Kelly needed to do was two-putt from 20 feet for the win.
“I told Ernie walking down the fairway that I was going to try to talk him into going first to see if I really needed to go for it,” Kelly said. “I could have easily reached it but all I saw in my head were the mistakes and how I could lose the tournament with a two-shot lead. There was no reason to take it on.”
Steven Alker shot 65 to move into third place at 16 under, Cabrera shot 68 to finish fourth at 15 under, and Vijay Singh closed with a 70 to finish fifth at 13 under.
Tournament host Cink ties for sixth place
Stewart Cink, a Georgia Tech grad and former TPC Sugarloaf resident, served as the tournament host for the second year and tied for sixth place. Cink eagled the final hole and finished with a 5-under 67 to finish 12 under.
“I played good this week, I just didn’t make many putts, and you’ve got to make putts out here to be in contention,” Cink said.
It was the fifth top-10 finish of the season for Cink, whose game has been strong.
“I’ve been hitting it nicely most of the year and I don’t usually make too many gameday mistakes,” Cink said. “It’s hard to explain, jut the ball hasn’t gone in much.”
Cink was happy to have his son Reagan as his caddie again. The two worked together for a couple of years before the younger Cink began his corporate career with Delta.
“It helped me so much. Just had so much fun with him,” Cink said. “He’s got an unbelievable golf IQ, just his sense of the way shots play and the proper decisions to make on the course. He’s elite and to have him -- and also have him as a son -- is so fun and I relished the whole week.”
Double-eagle finish for defending champion
Two-time defending champion Stephen Ames didn’t pull off the threepeat he wanted, but he concluded his week in dramatic fashion. Ames hit a 3-iron from 236 yards on the 18th hole that found the green and rolled into the hole for a rare double-eagle.
It was the second double-eagle for Ames. The last one came when he was a 16-year-old high school student.
“I was just trying to make birdie and I hit this thing like a laser,” Ames said. “It never left the flag.”
The dramatic finish gave Ames a 65 for the day and left him at 11-under and in eighth place.
“It’s a lot of positives,” Ames said. “It’s been really shabby coming in here and then everything has gotten progressively better this week, which is nice. Then to pull something out of the hat. That’s the positive side of it.”
Ames had the only double-eagle of the week, but Cameron Percy carded the lone hole-in-one at the 11th hole on Saturday.
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