Jerry Kelly

For the basketball player, see Jerry Kelly (basketball). For the footballer, see Jeremiah Kelly.

Jerry Kelly
Kelly in 2018
Personal information
Full nameJerome Patrick Kelly
Born (1966-11-23) November 23, 1966 (age 58)
Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceMadison, Wisconsin, U.S.
SpouseCarol Kelly
Children1
Career
CollegeUniversity of Hartford
Turned professional1989
Current tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Nike Tour
T. C. Jordan Tour
Professional wins21
Highest ranking18 (March 2, 2003)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
Korn Ferry Tour2
PGA Tour Champions12
Other4
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT5: 2007
PGA ChampionshipT26: 1999, 2011
U.S. OpenT7: 2007
The Open ChampionshipT26: 2006
Achievements and awards
Nike Tour
money list winner		1995
Nike Tour
Player of the Year		1995
PGA Tour Champions
Rookie of the Year		2017

Jerome Patrick Kelly (born November 23, 1966) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.

Early life and amateur career

Kelly was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. Kelly was an all-city ice hockey selection in high school while playing for Madison East. However, he said his hockey background may have hurt his golf early in his career because of the aggressiveness it encourages him to bring to his game.[2]

Kelly graduated from the University of Hartford in 1989.[3]

Professional career

In 1989, Kelly turned professional later that year. However, he didn't make it onto the PGA Tour until 1996. This followed a successful 1995 season on the Nike Tour when he won two tournaments. His best career year to date is 2002 when he finished fourth on the PGA Tour money list and won the Sony Open in Hawaii and Advil Western Open.

Kelly won the 2009 Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a two-foot par putt on the final hole, beating three players by one stroke (Charlie Wi, Rory Sabbatini, and Charles Howell III). It had been seven years since his previous win.[4]

For the first time in his PGA Tour career, Kelly finished outside the valued top 125 on the tour's money list, ending the 2012 season just $1,809 out of a full Tour card. He also finished 2012 as the 25th highest earning PGA Tour golfer in history. Instead of going to Q school (where his finish would have placed him directly into the final stage), Kelly played the 2013 season using a career money list exemption, nineteen places higher on the PGA Tour priority ranking list than the 126-150 category (Priority Ranking 29). During his PGA Tour career, Kelly made 616 starts and earned almost 29 million dollars.

Senior career

Kelly made his PGA Tour Champions debut at the Chubb Classic in February 2017 and gained his first win six months later at the Boeing Classic outside Seattle. The following year, Kelly won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

In 2019, Kelly won several tournaments. In June 2019, Kelly won the American Family Insurance Championship. In September 2019, he won The Ally Challenge for his fifth PGA Tour Champions title.[5] In October 2019, he won the SAS Championship with a final round 65.[6]

In August 2020, Kelly won his first career major championship of his career, and first senior major championship, the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at Firestone Country Club in Ohio, the only senior golf major of the year. With the win, Kelly earned $450,000 and qualified for the 2021 Players Championship.

In June 2021, Kelly defended his hometown title at the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wisconsin (last held in 2019). This was Kelly's eighth victory on the PGA Tour Champions.[7]

In July 2022, Kelly won the Senior Players Championship for the second time. Kelly shot a final round of 2-under 68 and won by two strokes over defending champion Steve Stricker. The win was Kelly's second senior major championship [8]

Professional wins (21)

PGA Tour wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Jan 14, 2002 Sony Open in Hawaii 66-65-65-70=266 −14 1 stroke United States John Cook
2 Jul 7, 2002 Advil Western Open 67-69-68-65=269 −19 2 strokes United States Davis Love III
3 Apr 26, 2009 Zurich Classic of New Orleans 68-66-69-71=274 −14 1 stroke United States Charles Howell III, South Africa Rory Sabbatini,
South Korea Charlie Wi

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open United States Loren Roberts Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Nike Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Apr 30, 1995 Nike Alabama Classic 65-70-70-68=273 −15 Playoff United States Buddy Gardner
2 Jul 16, 1995 Nike Buffalo Open 70-72-67-65=274 −14 1 stroke United States Tim Simpson

Nike Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1995 Nike Alabama Classic United States Buddy Gardner Won with par on first extra hole

T. C. Jordan Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Apr 19, 1992 Super D Big Creek Classic 62-68-73=203 −13 1 stroke United States Franklin Langham

Other wins (3)

PGA Tour Champions wins (12)

Legend
PGA Tour Champions major championships (2)
Other PGA Tour Champions (10)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 Aug 27, 2017 Boeing Classic 65-66-66=197 −19 1 stroke United States Jerry Smith
2 Sep 17, 2017 Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship 65-66-68=199 −14 1 stroke United States Lee Janzen
3 Jan 20, 2018 Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai 64-68-66=198 −18 1 stroke Scotland Colin Montgomerie
4 Jun 23, 2019 American Family Insurance Championship 65-70-66=201 −15 Playoff South Africa Retief Goosen, United States Steve Stricker
5 Sep 15, 2019 The Ally Challenge 67-65-68=200 −16 2 strokes United States Woody Austin
6 Oct 13, 2019 SAS Championship 68-67-65=200 −16 1 stroke Australia David McKenzie
7 Aug 15, 2020 Bridgestone Senior Players Championship 68-70-70-69=277 −3 2 strokes United States Scott Parel
8 Jun 13, 2021 American Family Insurance Championship (2) 67-69-66=202 −14 1 stroke United States Fred Couples, Spain Miguel Ángel Jiménez
9 Jun 5, 2022 Principal Charity Classic 65-66-67=198 −18 Playoff United States Kirk Triplett
10 Jul 10, 2022 Bridgestone Senior Players Championship (2) 67-69-65-68=269 −11 2 strokes United States Steve Stricker
11 Aug 7, 2022 Shaw Charity Classic 68-66-67=201 −9 Playoff United States John Huston
12 Oct 13, 2024 SAS Championship (2) 67-69-67=203 −13 1 stroke Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (3–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2019 American Family Insurance Championship South Africa Retief Goosen, United States Steve Stricker Won with birdie on third extra hole
2 2020 PURE Insurance Championship United States Jim Furyk Lost to birdie on first extra hole
3 2022 Principal Charity Classic United States Kirk Triplett Won with birdie on first extra hole
4 2022 Shaw Charity Classic United States John Huston Won with birdie on first extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open T57
The Open Championship T44
PGA Championship CUT WD T26
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament T20 48 T31 T20 T5 CUT
U.S. Open T37 CUT CUT T40 83 T7 CUT
The Open Championship CUT T28 WD T47 CUT T26 T49 CUT
PGA Championship CUT T44 CUT CUT CUT T34 48 CUT CUT CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Masters Tournament T12 CUT
U.S. Open T63 T41
The Open Championship CUT CUT
PGA Championship CUT T26 T27
  Top 10
  Did not play

WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 1 1 4 8 6
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 1 1 10 7
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 5
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 6
Totals 0 0 0 1 2 5 45 24
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2005 PGA – 2007 Open Championship)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2007 Masters – 2007 U.S. Open)

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Players Championship CUT CUT T31 CUT
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Players Championship T42 4 T11 CUT T6 CUT CUT T28 T32 CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
The Players Championship T39 T64 CUT T37 CUT T17 T19 CUT
Tournament 2020 2021 2022 2023
The Players Championship C CUT T54
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Match Play R64 QF QF R32 R64
Championship T4 T21 T16 T50
Invitational 77 T53 T19 T46 T11
Champions T54
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Senior major championships

Wins (2)

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
2020 Bridgestone Senior Players Championship 1 shot lead −3 (68-70-70-69=277) 2 strokes United States Scott Parel
2022 Bridgestone Senior Players Championship (2) Tied for lead −11 (67-69-65-68=269) 2 strokes United States Steve Stricker

Results timeline

Tournament 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
The Tradition T8 T12 NT T4 T13 4 T18
Senior PGA Championship T8 T3 5 NT T8 T29 T59 13
U.S. Senior Open T12 T2 T2 NT T8 T7 3 T16
Senior Players Championship T50 T4 T24 1 2 1 12 3
Senior British Open Championship T45 T14 T29 NT 6 T20 T7 CUT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

See also

References

  1. ^ "Week 9 2003 Ending 2 Mar 2003" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  2. ^ "Biographical info on PGA Tour's official site". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on April 28, 2007.
  3. ^ "Jerry Kelly profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  4. ^ "Kelly ends long wait for victory". BBC Sport. April 26, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2009.
  5. ^ Strege, John (September 15, 2019). "Jerry Kelly wins the Ally Challenge to close the gap on Charles Schwab Cup leader Scott McCarron". Golf Digest. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  6. ^ "Jerry Kelly rallies to win SAS Championship, closes gap in PGA Tour Champions standings". Golfweek. Associated Press. October 13, 2019.
  7. ^ "Jerry Kelly successfully defends hometown Champions title". Toronto Star. Associated Press. June 13, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  8. ^ "Jerry Kelly Wins Senior Players Championship for Second Time". Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.