Jerry Kelly attempts to guide his ball into the 12th hole during the third round of the Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone Country Club, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Akron, Ohio. Jerry Kelly built off of his record round to shoot 5 under par on Day 2 and remain in a tie for the lead Saturday at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic in Duluth, Ga.
Kelly set both the tournament scoring record and the TPC Sugarloaf course record with his 10-under-par 62 Friday. Saturday was more of a self-described “struggle bus,” with Kelly coming out of the round not feeling like he’d hit the ball particularly well.
“I played a lot more swing today because the misses were that much worse,” Kelly said. “I kind of had to play swing today. Yesterday, it was off, but it was still going in the general vicinity where I wanted it to. Today, not so much.”
He endured his first bogey of the tournament on his first hole of the day Saturday, but to his credit, he shook that off quickly.
Kelly grabbed birdies on holes 4, 6, 10, 11, 13 and 14 and didn’t have another bogey on the day. Still, he was eager to try to regroup before Sunday.
“I’ll get it done,” Kelly said. “The bottom of a glass of wine, you would be amazed what you can find about your golf swing.”
He is tied with South Africa’s Ernie Els, who did his best impersonation of Friday’s version of Kelly with eight birdies and no bogeys, finishing with an 8-under 64.
Els scored birdies on Holes 3, 6 and 7 before heating up even further on the back nine. His birdies on 10, 11, 13, 15 and 18 earned him a share of the lead going into the final round Sunday.
He knows it’s not a foregone conclusion he or Kelly close it out.
“Somebody could come out of the pack tomorrow and shoot a good front nine and he could be tied with us if we don’t get momentum going,” Els said. “There’s obviously going to be good weather tomorrow and there’s going to be a lot of birdies made, so got to keep the foot down.”
Argentina’s Angel Cabrera matched Els with an 8-under 64, while Fiji’s Vijay Singh shot 5-under 67 to each earn a share of third place at 11 under for the tournament., four strokes behind the co-leaders.
New Zealand’s Steven Alker (67) is alone in fifth place at 9 under, while Brett Quigley (66) and England’s Paul Broadhurst (67) are tied for sixth at 8 under.
Four Americans are within eight strokes of the lead, tied for eighth at 7 under: Mario Tiziani (66), Mark Walker (67), Stewart Cink (68) and Tim O’Neal (69).
Less than three months after undergoing open-heart surgery to repair a leaky valve, 61-year-old Davis Love III had a stronger round on Day 2, shooting 2-under 70, and he is now 1-over.
–Field Level Media
