HARTFORD, Conn – University of Hartford grad Jerry Kelly’s stellar play carried over to 2019 when he tied for third in the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Kona, Hawaii.
Kelly, the defending champion, shot 14-under-par 202 for 54 holes to share third with Bernhard Langer, the Champions Tour Player of the Year for the eighth time in 2018. Tom Lehman won the title at 199, finishing one ahead of David Toms, who three-putted the final hole, missing a 6-foot to send it to a playoff.
Kelly had his best season on the PGA Tour Champions in 2018, when he had one victory, 11 top-10 finishes and was fourth on the money list with $1,862,495.
Jerry Kelly, a 1989 University of Hartford grad, had his best season on the PGA Tour Champions in 2018, when he had one victory, 11 top-10 finishes and was fourth on the money list with $1,862,495.
Brett Stegmaier of Madison shot 12-under 276 to tie for ninth in the Web.com Tour’s opening event, the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay. Stegmaier finished six strokes behind winner Zecheng Dou, who birdied the final three holes to overtake Steve LeBrun. Ben Kohles also shared second. James Driscoll, a Boston native and New England Amateur winner who graduated from the University of Virginia, missed the cut after shooting 1-over 145 for 36 holes.
Stegmaier is back on the PGA Tour’s developmental circuit after missing 12 of 21 cuts and finishing 179th on the regular tour’s money list with $305,607 in 2018. A University of Florida grad who lives in Jupiter, Fla., Stegmaier originally joined the Web.com Tour in 2013 and has career earnings of $2,101,431.
When Phil Mickelson shot a 12-under 60 in the first round of the Desert Classic at LaQuinta Country Club in Palm Desert, Calif., he became the first player to shoot 60 or better three times on the PGA Tour. The 60 tied the career low for Mickelson, the only repeat champion (2001-02) in Travelers Championship history. Mickelson tied for second with Adam Hadwin at 26-under 263, one behind Adam Long, who made a 14-foot birdie putt on the final hole to capture his first PGA Tour title.
Matt Kucher, winner of the Sony Open two weeks ago, and major championship titlists Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Zach Johnson were among 16 named to the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council that will work with commissioner Jay Monahan, a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, on issues concerning the PGA Tour.
Others named to PAC were Paul Casey, Ryan Armour, Roberto Castro, James Hahn, Kevin Kisner, Anirban Lahiri, Peter Malnati, Jon Rahm, Sam Saunders, John Teater, Michael Thompson and Harold Varner III. Casey, Hahn, Kisner and Thomas were selected by the Player Directors to run for PAC co-chairman via an election that ends Feb. 6.
The leading two vote-getters will replace Charley Hoffman and 2014 Travelers Championship winner Kevin Streelman as Player Directors of the Policy Board, serving three-year terms (2020-22). Casey, a playoff loser to Watson in the 2015 Travelers Championship, could become the first foreign-born player to serve on the PGA Tour policy board.
Justin Leonard and Stuart Appleby have been selected captains for the Junior Presidents Cup on Dec. 8-9 at Royal Melbourne in Australia, the Sunday and Monday before the Presidents Cup between Team USA and Team International.
REMY TO REPRESENT NEW ENGLAND
PGA of America Career Services added past president Jim Remy to a team of 19 career consultants serving PGA members and employers nationwide. Remy will serve the Connecticut and New England PGA Sections and join the other 18 field consultants to forge stronger relationships through the overall smaller geographic territories that each consultant manages.
A PGA member since 1984, Remy was the vice president and general manager of the Okemo Golf Division at the Okemo Valley Golf Club in Ludlow, Vt., for more than 20 years. He began his career as a PGA assistant professional at Worcester (Mass.) Country Club, and later served as an assistant pro at Mount Pleasant Country Club in Boylston, Mass.
“I am extremely excited to join the talented team of PGA of America career consultants as the New England and Connecticut Sections consultant,” Remy said. “Employment has always been a passion of mine. At this point in my career, I am very proud to serve and assist PGA members with career planning and industry employers in finding the right PGA of America candidate for their facility.”
Remy also brings a unique insight to the role, having been elected the 36th PGA president in 2008. He holds the distinction of having served in virtually every capacity within the areas of PGA governance, including an unprecedented 61/2-year term on the PGA Board of Control, which reviews and rules on membership issues.
Remy and his wife, Darlene, live in Ludlow, Vt., and have a daughter, Niki.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The thing for us is not to get caught up in today’s news. I learned that lesson already because I know what’s wrong with Jordan Spieth, and I know what’s right with Jordan Spieth. I know how to get to where I want to go with my golf game and have fun doing it.” – Spieth, who holed a bunker shot on the first playoff hole to beat Greg Berger and win the 2017 Travelers Championship, on his game after a struggling 2018 in which he failed to win. He missed the cut by a shot in the Sony Open.
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