Jerry Kelly made a short birdie putt at the first playoff hole Sunday to win the Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, Iowa.
Kelly and Kirk Triplett replayed the par-4 18th hole after each finished at 18-under-par 198 after matching rounds of 67. Kelly used a wedge to stick his second shot to about 3 feet, and Triplett couldn’t match his birdie.
The final round was disrupted late in the day due to a pop-up thunderstorm with lightning. When it resumed, Kelly had just three holes to go. He made his fifth and final birdie at the par-3 17th hole en route to polishing off a bogey-free round.
He credited a recent putting lesson from his friend, Steve Stricker.
“I just had to keep my patience in there,” Kelly said. “That was what sent me through, besides obviously Steve’s putting lesson again. But really is the patience. Because of that, because I was able to make some putts, that really carried me through.”
Kelly, 55, won for the ninth time on the PGA Tour Champions and the first time since June 2021, when he claimed victory at the American Family Insurance Championship, his hometown event in Madison, Wis. He will defend his title there next week.
Bernhard Langer of Germany (68) and Steven Alker of New Zealand (69) finished tied for third at 16 under.
Brett Quigley shot 70 and finished alone in fifth at 15 under. Paul Goydos tied for the round of the day, a 7-under 65, to finish T6 with Brandt Jobe (67) at 14 under.
–Field Level Media
Jin Hee Im and Atthaya Thitikul carded matching rounds of 5-under-par 67 on Friday to share the lead after two rounds of the Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of…
Thomas Bjorn of Denmark fired seven birdies during a bogey-free 64 on Friday to lead the Invited Celebrity Classic at Irving, Texas. Bjorn holds a one-shot lead over a quartet…
Tom Hoge shot his low round of the season and tied for best round of the day, a 7-under-par 64, to share in a four-way tie for the lead Friday…
Thomas Bjorn in front by one shot at Invited Celebrity Classic
Hoge, Morikawa part of four-way tie for Heritage lead; Scheffler tied for 10th
Wesley Bryan stays in front, holds Corales Puntacana lead
Lauren Coughlin in front, Nelly Korda right behind at Chevron