Jerry Kelly

Jerry Kelly
Jerry Kelly
	Kelly in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Jerome Patrick Kelly
Born	November 23, 1966 (age 58); Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st)
Sporting nationality	United States
Residence	Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Spouse	Carol Kelly
Children	1
Career
College	University of Hartford
Turned professional	1989
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour; Nike Tour; T. C. Jordan Tour
Professional wins	21
Highest ranking	18 (March 2, 2003)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	3
Korn Ferry Tour	2
PGA Tour Champions	12
Other	4
Best results in major championships;
Masters Tournament	T5: 2007
PGA Championship	T26: 1999, 2011
U.S. Open	T7: 2007
The Open Championship	T26: 2006
Achievements and awards
Nike Tour; money list winner
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.

Career

Born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, Kelly graduated from the University of Hartford in 1989 and turned professional later that year,^[2] but didn't make it onto the PGA Tour until 1996. This followed a successful 1995 season on the Nike Tour (currently known as the Korn Ferry 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 PGA Tour's 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.^[3]

Kelly's highest Official World Golf Ranking was 18th in 2003.

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.

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.

In January 2018, Kelly won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

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.^[4] In October 2019, he won the SAS Championship with a final round 65.^[5]

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.^[6]

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 ^[7]

Personal life

Kelly was an all-city ice hockey selection in high school while playing for Madison East and has 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.^[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	John Cook
2	Jul 7, 2002	Advil Western Open	67-69-68-65=269	−19	2 strokes	Davis Love III
3	Apr 26, 2009	Zurich Classic of New Orleans	68-66-69-71=274	−14	1 stroke	Charles Howell III, Rory Sabbatini, Charlie Wi

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1996	Greater Milwaukee Open	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	Buddy Gardner
2	Jul 16, 1995	Nike Buffalo Open	70-72-67-65=274	−14	1 stroke	Tim Simpson

Nike Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1995	Nike Alabama Classic	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	Franklin Langham

Other wins (3)

1992 Wisconsin State Open
2006 Merrill Lynch Shootout (with Rod Pampling)
2009 The Shark Shootout (with Steve Stricker)

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	Jerry Smith
2	Sep 17, 2017	Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship	65-66-68=199	−14	1 stroke	Lee Janzen
3	Jan 20, 2018	Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai	64-68-66=198	−18	1 stroke	Colin Montgomerie
4	Jun 23, 2019	American Family Insurance Championship	65-70-66=201	−15	Playoff	Retief Goosen, Steve Stricker
5	Sep 15, 2019	The Ally Challenge	67-65-68=200	−16	2 strokes	Woody Austin
6	Oct 13, 2019	SAS Championship	68-67-65=200	−16	1 stroke	David McKenzie
7	Aug 15, 2020	Bridgestone Senior Players Championship	68-70-70-69=277	−3	2 strokes	Scott Parel
8	Jun 13, 2021	American Family Insurance Championship (2)	67-69-66=202	−14	1 stroke	Fred Couples, Miguel Ángel Jiménez
9	Jun 5, 2022	Principal Charity Classic	65-66-67=198	−18	Playoff	Kirk Triplett
10	Jul 10, 2022	Bridgestone Senior Players Championship (2)	67-69-65-68=269	−11	2 strokes	Steve Stricker
11	Aug 7, 2022	Shaw Charity Classic	68-66-67=201	−9	Playoff	John Huston
12	Oct 13, 2024	SAS Championship (2)	67-69-67=203	−13	1 stroke	Pádraig Harrington

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (3–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2019	American Family Insurance Championship	Retief Goosen, Steve Stricker	Won with birdie on third extra hole
2	2020	PURE Insurance Championship	Jim Furyk	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
3	2022	Principal Charity Classic	Kirk Triplett	Won with birdie on first extra hole
4	2022	Shaw Charity Classic	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	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	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	1	1	4	8	6
U.S. Open	0	1	1	10	7
The Open Championship	0	0	0	11	5
PGA Championship	0	0	0	16	6
Totals	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	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	Scott Parel
2022	Bridgestone Senior Players Championship (2)	Tied for lead	−11 (67-69-65-68=269)	2 strokes	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

Presidents Cup: 2003 (tie)

References

^ "Week 9 2003 Ending 2 Mar 2003" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
^ "Jerry Kelly profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
^ "Kelly ends long wait for victory". BBC Sport. April 26, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2009.
^ 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.
^ "Jerry Kelly rallies to win SAS Championship, closes gap in PGA Tour Champions standings". Golfweek. Associated Press. October 13, 2019.
^ "Jerry Kelly successfully defends hometown Champions title". Toronto Star. Associated Press. June 13, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
^ "Jerry Kelly Wins Senior Players Championship for Second Time". Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
^ "Biographical info on PGA Tour's official site". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on April 28, 2007.

External links

Jerry Kelly at the PGA Tour official site
Jerry Kelly at the Official World Golf Ranking official site

[w200309-1] "Week 9 2003 Ending 2 Mar 2003" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 3, 2019.

[2] "Jerry Kelly profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 21, 2017.

[3] "Kelly ends long wait for victory". BBC Sport. April 26, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2009.

[4] 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.

[5] "Jerry Kelly rallies to win SAS Championship, closes gap in PGA Tour Champions standings". Golfweek. Associated Press. October 13, 2019.

[6] "Jerry Kelly successfully defends hometown Champions title". Toronto Star. Associated Press. June 13, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.

[7] "Jerry Kelly Wins Senior Players Championship for Second Time". Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.

[8] "Biographical info on PGA Tour's official site". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on April 28, 2007.

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Career

Personal life

Professional wins (21)

PGA Tour wins (3)

Nike Tour wins (2)

T. C. Jordan Tour wins (1)

Other wins (3)

PGA Tour Champions wins (12)

Results in major championships

Summary

Results in The Players Championship

Results in World Golf Championships

Senior major championships

Wins (2)

Results timeline

U.S. national team appearances

See also

References

External links