Jerry

Kelly

The 54-year-old would have been making his first appearance at the Valero since a T65 during the 2016 edition. Overall, he owns a 6-for-11 record at the VTO with a pair of top 10s but won’t be changing his resume at all this week. At press time, there is no reason cited for this Kelly WD, but we will update if that changes. This Monday move officially puts Rhein Gibson into the field who has been shuffling in and out of the field due to late field changes and top-10 exemptions for the Corales.

The past champ (2002) spends most of his time on the Champions circuit now but still makes an annual trip to Waialae Country Club. It’s the site of nine top 10s for the Wisconsin native with the most recent coming during the 2016 edition. His more recent visits have yielded finishes of MC, T14, MC, and T45 over the last four seasons. As for his play on the senior tour, he posted nine top 25s in 15 starts last season including a win at the Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS Championship. Kelly made just one other PGA TOUR appearance in 2020 and that was an impressive T22 at the Workday Charity Open. His stellar track record at the course might put him on the radar for DFS gamers if the price is right. This event will also serve the double purpose of prepping him for the Mitsubishi Electric Championship next week.

He didn’t make the cut at the PGA last year, but is actually in great shape to try to win his first major. Of course, he’s got a problem named Phil in front of him, but you never know what will happen over the weekend.

The 53-year-old spends most of his time on the Champions circuit these days but the Sony Open still presents a good chance to compete against the world’s best. Kelly is a past champ here (2002) and has eight other top 10s on his resume. He’s a natural invite on those stats alone but it’s an even easier decision for Kelly to make when you factor in the Champions Tour kicks off next week and that event is also played in Hawaii. Kelly missed the cut here last year but did pop for a T14 just two years ago.

The 52-year-old is the Sony’s all-time earnings leader with $2,774,078. He’s cashed 16 times in 21 tries with 13 top 25s, including a T14 last year, also on a sponsor exemption. Kelly also owns nine top 10s, highlighted by his maiden TOUR win in 2002, and most recently a T9 in 2016, which completed a run of three straight. This is his first TOUR start since a missed cut at the 2018 Zurich last April, teamed with fellow Wisconsinite Steve Stricker, and only played three TOUR events in 2018 after just seven in 2017. Kelly has played primarily on the PGA TOUR Champions the last two years, racking up 21 top 10s in 44 events with 10 of those podiums, including three wins.

Kelly has made four cuts in seven starts this year, but his only two top 25’s have come in his last two starts. A tie for 25th in Puerto Rico and a tie for 20th at the Transitions. His last appearance at Bay Hill came in 2010 when he tied for 30th.

Kelly hasn’t done much at the TPC Louisiana since that victory, but his penchant for solid play when he gets hot is worth keeping an eye on. For the year, he’s cashed in six (of 10) starts with he best finish of the year coming last week at the Valero Texas Open (T18).

Kelly hit 17/18 greens-in-reg and was able to make some birdies. He’s in great shape after Round 1.

While he hasn’t missed more than two cuts in a row, Kelly has sprinkled in six missed cuts in 14 events. His best finish came at the Valero Texas Open where he nabbed a T18. He needs to get a move on, as his $259,733 is well short of what he would need to crack the top 125 and be fully exempt in 2013.

The University of Hartford product has been a fixture at this event near his alma mater. He’s mixed in four top 15s with seven missed cuts in 14 appearances. Today he split 10 (of 14) fairways but found only 10 greens. In addition to four birdies, including respective conversions of 14'8", 26'8" and 13'7" at the 11th, 12th and fourth holes, respectively, he went 8-for-8 in scrambling and signed his card sitting one back of the clubhouse lead.