Jerry Kelly sank seven birdies as part of a 7-under 65 round that put him in first place with a round to play at the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala.
Despite battling back issues earlier in the week, Kelly turned in his first unblemished card of the tournament in forging a one-shot lead at 15 under ahead of South Korea’s Y.E. Yang.
“Yeah, I goosed my back, either Sunday or Monday, and I went prone for a little while and did my breathing and exercises and the spasms subsided,” Kelly said. “It’s all come together nicely this week.”
After finishing with a flourish with three birdies over his final three holes at Greystone Golf & Country Club, the 58-year-old is in the pole position for his 14th Champions Tour victory.
“I’m happy that I found something that was working really well with the swing and the putter in the end,” Kelly said. “I really got back to my putting stroke and not worried about being too perfect and I putted better. It’s just more of the same tomorrow, just got to keep the pedal down with these guys.”
Yang is hot on Kelly’s heels after likewise avoiding any missteps with his five-birdie, 5-under 67 peformance Saturday. His fellow countryman, Charlie Wi (67), is a stroke back in a tie for third with New Zealand’s Steven Alker (71).
Richard Green, who led coming into the day, fell off the pace with his 3-over 75. That round featured a birdie, but also two bogeys and a double bogey, and it dropped him into a tie for 10th place, five strokes behind Kelly at 10 under.
Three golfers are tied for fifth at 12 under: Boo Weekley (66), Chris DiMarco (69) and Argentina’s Angel Cabrera (67).
“I hit a lot of good shots, but I hit a lot of bad ones out there today, too,” Weekley said. “It’s kind of tough playing with these mud balls and stuff we’ve got going on.”
Tied for eighth at 11 under are Canada’s Stephen Ames (67) and Stewart Cink (68).
Germany’s Alex Cejka (71) and Paul Stankowski (66) are tied with Green in 10th.
Australia’s Michael Wright tied for the second-best round of the day with his 6-under 66, which included an eagle on the par-5 13th hole.
–Field Level Media
