Jerry Kelly has always been a keen competitor without having all of the artillery of his Senior Tour combatants.  After leading the tournament, the rest of the field led by Matt Gogol put up a score in the clubhouse that Kelly would have to beat and his lead shrank to one shot in the incoming nine holes at the King’s Course at Gleneagles.

Kelly came to the 72nd hole battling his swing. Anyone who has watched him over the years knows that when the swing gets away from him, the fight becomes as much mental as physical — and this final round was no exception. With Matt Gogel charging hard behind him, Kelly didn’t need a perfect finish. He needed a smart one.

This is a story about patience and perseverance.  Kelly has been battling bouts of back pain and issues throughout his career and he looked like the situation was teetering as he moved into the inward nine.  He wasn’t executing shots to his liking and he faced a number of 90 foot putts which were not birdie opportunities but threats to par.  He converted two putts on all of those misplaced iron shots to the green and took his time and thought through each and every shot hole by hole.

He was still 9 under and Dareen Finchardt was charging away at 7 under with Matt Gogol in the clubhouse at 8 under wondering if  a Kelly miscue might portend an opportunity for a playoff.  Finchardt knocks his second shot on 18 in the front bunker some 50 feet from the hole and proceeds to astonish the crowd with an amazing shot  running out of the bunker to a few inches, which would have tied Kelly as an eagle but he would have to settle for a birdie.  

Kelly has survived all of his errant shots and stripes a hybrid down the middle of the fairway on the par 5, 18th hole and then proceeds to knock the ball into the same bunker as Finchardt and has virtually the exact same shot.  This is about as bad as a player can be with a major championship on the line–a shot out of this bunker position could go anywhere.  If you lofted the ball, it could go nowhere-leaving a potential 3 putt situation.  Kelly proceeded  to just about match Finchardt’s effort in the same way  with a low running shot to just 5 feet from the hole.  Kelly calmly sinks the putt for birdie and a 2 shot victory.  He feels like Hercules–the weight of the world is off his shoulders.  Kelly wins by 2 shots.

Asked afterward how he’d gotten it done despite fighting his swing all day, Kelly’s answer was two words: “my brain.” “I learned a lot about myself today.”  He didn’t succumb to his inability to execute.  He focused on every shot and even though he put himself in some tenuous positions, he made those putts every time and never three putted on that back nine.  When asked how he made it through, he stated, “my brain, actually, was the most successful part of my game.”  

It’s a quote  that sums up why Kelly has had the career he’s had. Golf at this level isn’t just about who’s swinging it best on a given Sunday — it’s about who can manage a bad swing, a tough lie, and a hard-charging leaderboard without losing the plot. Kelly’s ball-striking wasn’t at its best at Gleneagles, but his decision-making was, and that bunker shot on 18 will be remembered as one of the more remarkable up-and-downs in recent major championship history — not because of the technique alone, but because of what it took mentally to pull it off under that kind of pressure.