With 11 wins and two senior majors, there aren’t many gamers on the Champions Tour with extra accomplishments during the last half decade than Jerry Kelly. Once he reached the 50-year-old age requirement in 2017, it didn’t take him lengthy to burst onto the senior-circuit scene. He gained twice in his rookie season, and within the 5 years since has established himself as one of many prime gamers on the over-50 tour.
It’s not a nasty strategy to stay out the latter portion of your enjoying profession — but it surely’s a far cry from Kelly’s pro-golf beginnings. Three a long time in the past, Kelly wasn’t competing in opposition to main champs and Ryder Cup captains. Instead, he was chopping his enamel on the developmental Nike Tour (now Korn Ferry Tour).
In 1995, Kelly reached his zenith on the AAA circuit. That season, he gained two instances and made almost $200,000 in winnings, which was sufficient to earn him Player of the Year honors.
When it got here time for the trophy to reach within the mail, there was a slight drawback. Instead of sending the Nike Tour Player of the Year trophy, the execs in Ponte Vedra acquired combined up and unintentionally sent Greg Norman’s PGA Tour Player of the Year trophy.
“I totally thought about keeping it,” Kelly mentioned on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar. “I can’t remember if they called me first or I called them first — I’m not positive on that one. I remember a conversation with my family going, ‘This is kind of cool.’”
A POTY trophy for one of many prime gamers within the sport could be fairly the dialog piece, however in the end, Kelly returned it to its rightful proprietor.
Check out the complete episode of Subpar under.
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