Jerry Kelly, right, shares a laugh with his caddy on the 16th hole during the Kaulig Companies Championship pro-am at Firestone Country Club, Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Akron, Ohio. Jerry Kelly shot a 5-under-par 67 and held on to win the SAS Championship by one stroke on Sunday at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, N.C.
Kelly made his only bogey of the day at the par-4 18th hole to settle for 13-under 203, and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington moved to 13 under at around the same time with a birdie at the par-5 17th. But Harrington also proceeded to bogey No. 18 after missing both the fairway and the green on his first two shots.
Harrington’s par attempt to force a playoff hit the edge of the cup and lipped out.
It marked Kelly’s 12th win on the PGA Tour Champions and his first since August 2022.
“It’s a long time coming,” Kelly said on the Golf Channel broadcast. “You wonder if you’re even going to do it again when the injuries start piling up.”
Kelly began the day tied for second, three shots off the pace of Harrington, who has won eight times since joining the tour in 2022. Kelly birdied Nos. 1, 3 and 5 to make his move up the leaderboard.
Kelly passed Harrington on the leaderboard with another trio of birdies at Nos. 10, 12 and 13, while the Irishman had just two birdies and a bogey through 12 holes. Harrington missed birdie chances at the 13th through 16th holes before finally getting one to go at the penultimate hole.
Sunday marked the end of the PGA Tour Champions regular season, and the top 72 players in the points standings qualified for the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs. That included Woody Austin, who despite posting a 3-over 75 on Sunday finished T17 at 4 under par. He moved from No. 73 to No. 71 in points.
“That’s what I tried to do coming in this week,” Austin said of making the playoffs. “To have to hit it that good just to finish in the top-20 (of the tournament), that’s ridiculous. I’m glad that I get to at least play one more tournament.”
–Field Level Media
