Jerome Patrick Kelly (born November 23, 1966) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.
Early life and amateur career Kelly was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. Kelly was an all-city ice hockey selection in high school while playing for Madison East. However, he said his hockey background may have hurt his golf early in his career because of the aggressiveness it encourages him to bring to his game.
Kelly graduated from the University of Hartford in 1989.
Professional career In 1989, Kelly turned professional later that year. However, he didn't make it onto the PGA Tour until 1996. This followed a successful 1995 season on the Nike Tour when he won two tournaments. His best career year to date is 2002 when he finished fourth on the PGA Tour money list and won the Sony Open in Hawaii and Advil Western Open.
Kelly won the 2009 Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a two-foot par putt on the final hole, beating three players by one stroke (Charlie Wi, Rory Sabbatini, and Charles Howell III). It had been seven years since his previous win.
For the first time in his PGA Tour career, Kelly finished outside the valued top 125 on the tour's money list, ending the 2012 season just $1,809 out of a full Tour card. He also finished 2012 as the 25th highest earning PGA Tour golfer in history. Instead of going to Q school (where his finish would have placed him directly into the final stage), Kelly played the 2013 season using a career money list exemption, nineteen places higher on the PGA Tour priority ranking list than the 126-150 category (Priority Ranking 29). During his PGA Tour career, Kelly made 616 starts and earned almost 29 million dollars.
Senior career Kelly made his PGA Tour Champions debut at the Chubb Classic in February 2017 and gained his first win six months later at the Boeing Classic outside Seattle. The following year, Kelly won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.
In 2019, Kelly won several tournaments. In June 2019, Kelly won the American Family Insurance Championship. In September 2019, he won The Ally Challenge for his fifth PGA Tour Champions title. In October 2019, he won the SAS Championship with a final round 65.
In August 2020, Kelly won his first career major championship, and first senior major championship, the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at Firestone Country Club in Ohio, the only senior golf major of the year. With the win, Kelly earned $450,000 and qualified for the 2021 Players Championship.
In June 2021, Kelly defended his hometown title at the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wisconsin (last held in 2019). This was Kelly's eighth victory on the PGA Tour Champions.
In July 2022, Kelly won the Senior Players Championship for the second time. Kelly shot a final round of 2-under 68 and won by two strokes over defending champion Steve Stricker. The win was Kelly's second senior major championship
In July 2026, Kelly was victorious at the Senior British Open. He won the event by two strokes to claim his third career senior major title.
Professional wins (23) PGA Tour wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Jan 14, 2002Sony Open in Hawaii66-65-65-70=266−141 stroke John Cook2Jul 7, 2002Advil Western Open67-69-68-65=269−192 strokes Davis Love III 3Apr 26, 2009Zurich Classic of New Orleans68-66-69-71=274−141 stroke Charles Howell III, Rory Sabbatini, Charlie Wi
PGA Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult11996Greater Milwaukee Open Loren RobertsLost to birdie on first extra hole
Nike Tour wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Apr 30, 1995Nike Alabama Classic65-70-70-68=273−15Playoff Buddy Gardner2Jul 16, 1995Nike Buffalo Open70-72-67-65=274−141 stroke Tim Simpson
Nike Tour playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult11995Nike Alabama Classic Buddy GardnerWon with par on first extra hole
T. C. Jordan Tour wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Apr 19, 1992Super D Big Creek Classic62-68-73=203−131 stroke Franklin Langham
Other wins (3) 1992 Wisconsin State Open 2006 Merrill Lynch Shootout (with Rod Pampling) 2009 The Shark Shootout (with Steve Stricker)
PGA Tour Champions wins (14) LegendPGA Tour Champions major championships (3)Other PGA Tour Champions (11) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Aug 27, 2017 Boeing Classic65-66-66=197−191 stroke Jerry Smith2Sep 17, 2017 Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship65-66-68=199−141 stroke Lee Janzen3Jan 20, 2018 Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai64-68-66=198−181 stroke Colin Montgomerie4Jun 23, 2019 American Family Insurance Championship65-70-66=201−15Playoff Retief Goosen, Steve Stricker5Sep 15, 2019The Ally Challenge67-65-68=200−162 strokes Woody Austin6Oct 13, 2019SAS Championship68-67-65=200−161 stroke David McKenzie7Aug 15, 2020Bridgestone Senior Players Championship68-70-70-69=277−32 strokes Scott Parel8Jun 13, 2021American Family Insurance Championship (2)67-69-66=202−141 stroke Fred Couples, Miguel Ángel Jiménez9Jun 5, 2022Principal Charity Classic65-66-67=198−18Playoff Kirk Triplett10Jul 10, 2022Bridgestone Senior Players Championship (2)67-69-65-68=269−112 strokes Steve Stricker11Aug 7, 2022Shaw Charity Classic68-66-67=201−9Playoff John Huston12Oct 13, 2024SAS Championship (2)67-69-67=203−131 stroke Pádraig Harrington13Apr 27, 2025Mitsubishi Electric Classic62-67-67=196−201 stroke Ernie Els14Jul 26, 2026ISPS Handa Senior Open66-68-68-68=270−102 strokes Darren Fichardt, Matt Gogel, Cameron Percy
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (3–1) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12019American Family Insurance Championship Retief Goosen, Steve StrickerWon with birdie on third extra hole22020PURE Insurance Championship Jim FurykLost to birdie on first extra hole32022Principal Charity Classic Kirk TriplettWon with birdie on first extra hole42022Shaw Charity Classic John HustonWon with birdie on first extra hole
Results in major championships Tournament 1997 1998 1999Masters TournamentU.S. OpenT57The Open ChampionshipT44PGA ChampionshipCUTWDT26 Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Masters TournamentT2048T31T20T5CUTU.S. OpenT37CUTCUTT4083T7CUTThe Open ChampionshipCUTT28WDT47CUTT26T49CUTPGA ChampionshipCUTT44CUTCUTCUTT3448CUTCUTCUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014Masters TournamentT12CUTU.S. OpenT63T41The Open ChampionshipCUTCUTPGA ChampionshipCUTT26T27
WD = withdrew CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 1 1 4 8 6U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 1 1 10 7The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 5PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 6Totals 0 0 0 1 2 5 45 24 Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2005 PGA – 2007 Open Championship) Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2007 Masters – 2007 U.S. Open)
Results in The Players Championship Tournament1996199719981999The Players ChampionshipCUTCUTT31CUT Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009The Players ChampionshipT424T11CUTT6CUTCUTT28T32CUT Tournament2010201120122013201420152016201720182019The Players ChampionshipT39T64CUTT37CUTT17T19CUT Tournament2020202120222023The Players ChampionshipCCUTT54
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament200220032004200520062007200820092010Match PlayR64QFQFR32R64ChampionshipT4T21T16T50Invitational77T53T19T46T11ChampionsT54
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
Senior major championships Wins (3) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 2020 Bridgestone Senior Players Championship 1 shot lead −3 (68-70-70-69=277) 2 strokes Scott Parel 2022 Bridgestone Senior Players Championship (2) Tied for lead −11 (67-69-65-68=269) 2 strokes Steve Stricker 2026 ISPS Handa Senior Open Tied for lead −10 (66-68-68-68=270) 2 strokes Darren Fichardt, Matt Gogel, Cameron Percy
Results timeline Results not in chronological order Tournament 2017 2018 2019 2020202120222023202420252026Senior PGA ChampionshipT8T35NTT8T29T5913CUTThe TraditionT8T12NTT4T134T182T54U.S. Senior OpenT12T2T2NTT8T73T16T36T17Senior Players ChampionshipT50T4T24121123T21T14Senior British Open ChampionshipT45T14T29NT6T20T7CUTT171
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
U.S. national team appearances Professional Presidents Cup: 2003 (tie)
See also 1995 Nike Tour graduates List of golfers with most PGA Tour Champions wins
References
External links