Maginnes: Kelly may win biggest race of his career

Jerry Kelly always won his occasional golf course footraces, says John Maginnes, and now he finds himself in the heat of the biggest race of all -- for a major title. Fit and mature, one of the game's good guys will certainly give it a run.

By John Maginnes, PGATOUR.com Contributor

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Jerry Kelly was playing a practice round in 1995 in Lake St. Louis, Mo., while he was on the Nationwide Tour.

It was hot, St.-Louis-in-July hot, as the group made its way up the hill on the par-5 18th that Tuesday afternoon. While the players made their way up the steep slope to the final green, one of the guys in the group ran by Jerry and slapped him on the back, yelling "race you."

Without missing a beat, Jerry took off after his portly playing partner, who had a five-step head start. With 20 yards to go it was neck-and-neck but Jerry pulled away, beating his younger foe by a step.

There was a rematch seven years later on the 18th at Bethpage Black, again on a Tuesday but this time before the U.S. Open. This time the battle wasn't nearly as close with Jerry edging out the younger man again.

Jerry will not be in a footrace this weekend at Augusta National. No, the challenge that faces him is a far greater and more daunting than a race with a fat man. The Augusta National layout, according to Gary Player, is playing more difficult than he has seen it in 40 years. Much will be made about the firmness of the greens and the unseasonably cool conditions.

These conditions favor a player like Jerry Kelly, though. The more difficult the golf course, the better Jerry seems to play. His two victories on the PGA TOUR both came on very tough golf courses. He won for the second time in 1992 at the Western Open at Cog Hill, which is a major championship-style golf course. Jerry, who was a successful member of the Presidents Cup the following year, shot 65 in the final round.

Jerry has gone back to working with Jim Shuman on his swing. Jim, a former Nationwide Tour player turned teaching professional, has intimate knowledge of Jerry's golf swing. He should -- he is Jerry's brother-in-law.

As his swing has evolved and improved, Jerry has become a more mature person -- on and off the golf course. He has quietly rallied PGA TOUR players for various causes in the last few years.

Prior to the death of former TOUR player Jeff Julian from Lou Gehrig's disease, Jerry helped organize a pro-am in Vermont to help fund research for a cure. He and PGA TOUR rules official Mickey Bradley put together a pro-am in Mississippi last fall to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Only a player with the respect of his peers could ask his fellow competitors to donate their time and be so well-received. Jerry is that type of player. This past Thanksgiving, Jerry missed turkey at home as he and several other TOUR players visited our troops in Iraq. Frank Lickliter II wrote daily from Iraq about the experience on PGATOUR.com.

The career victories total for Jerry may be a bit of a burr under his saddle. He has succeeded in every other way on TOUR. He has never once tempted fate and fallen outside the top 125 in the 10 years that he has been an exempt player. With multiple top-10s annually, Jerry contends for titles consistently every year.

One stop where he seems destined to win is in his home state of Wisconsin. He says the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee is his fifth major. That may be, but he has the Masters, the year's most prestigious major, in his sights right now. Jerry will enter the weekend just two shots off the pace.

Can he win at Augusta National under the white-hot spotlight of the Masters? The truth is that I don't know. I don't think that any of the long list of champions here would have told you that they ever knew they were going to win before it happened. They worked hard and try to put themselves in position. Jerry has done both of those.

I look forward to watching the 40-year-old give it a shot this weekend -- and who knows, he just may pull it off. It would certainly be the crowning achievement in what has been a pretty good career. He might be a player, like Vijay Singh or Fred Funk, who plays his best golf after the age of 40. He is in the best shape of his career. He is certainly too fit for me to ever challenge to a footrace again.