Kelly takes over lead again

Jerry Kelly and David Toms are the same age, have similar games and even played the Nike Tour together seven years ago.

The only difference is their progress charts.

Toms has seven PGA Tour victories and became one of the elite players in golf last year by winning three times, including his first major championship at the PGA.

The Sony Open is Kelly's 200th start on the PGA Tour and he's still trying to win for the first time. He'll get another chance to change that on Sunday.

With birdies on his final two holes, Kelly gave himself a small cushion at Waialae Country Club with a 5-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead over Toms and John Cook.

``I'm just waiting for it to happen,'' said Kelly, who was at 196. ``If I wasn't improving, I'd be worried. I'm a late bloomer.''

He will play with Toms in the final pairing.

Toms got into contention again with the best score of a windy day near Diamondhead, a 63 that left him at 198. Tied with Toms was John Cook, who squandered his three-shot lead after six holes and had to play hard for an even-par 70.

This is the third time Kelly has had 54-hole lead.

He led by two strokes over Tiger Woods going into the final round of The Players Championship last year and tied for fourth. At the Reno-Tahoe Open, he triple-bogeyed the 16th hole in the final round and finished one behind Cook.

At least he has a cushion.

Kelly hit a 7-iron into 2 feet on the par-3 17th, then reached the par-5 18th with a 3-wood and two-putted for birdie.

``Those last two holes were big,'' Kelly said. ``I've got great putters behind me. I know it's going to be a horse race. They always are.''

Toms closed out last year by losing in a four-man playoff at the Tour Championship, and started the new year losing to Sergio Garcia in a playoff at Kapalua.

``It's tough to stomach,'' he said of losing. ``A win tomorrow would make me a feel a lot better. The expectations are there. I might not play good, but I feel like I'm going to.''

Jim Furyk missed 7-foot birdie putts on the final two holes and still had a 64, three strokes out of the lead.

Another stroke back was Charles Howell III and Stephen Ames, who each had 66, and Chris Riley, who still hasn't made a bogey this week and had a 68.

Toms and Furyk gave Ryder Cup captain Curtis Strange something to consider. They turned a best-ball score of 13-under 57 with a dazzling display of golf in strong trade winds at Waialae Country Club.

``That would have been pretty good at The Belfry,'' Toms told Furyk when they were done with the round.

It was a peculiar round for Toms, who didn't feel like he drove the ball particularly well, missed more greens than he prefers and gave himself only above-average marks with the putter. It added up to a 63 and spot in the final pairing.

But it could have been better.

Toms birdied three of the first six holes, and missed birdie putts of 3, 4 and 8 feet.

About that time, Furyk picked up the slack. Starting with a birdie from the bunker on No. 9, he birdie four out of five holes and added back-to-back birdies late in his round.

``Standing on the ninth tee I was 5 under,'' he said. ``Now, I've given myself a shot.''

Furyk figured the leaders were doing the same thing, so he was surprised when he saw a leaderboard on the 16th fairway that showed Toms in the lead, with Furyk only one back.

Cook, coming off a 62 that gave him a three-stroke lead, bogeyed three of his first six holes and had to play to keep from falling off the radar screen.

Garcia likely will have to turn over his lead on the money list after winning the Mercedes Championships last week. The 22-year-old Spaniard had a 69and was 10 strokes back.

Divots

There are worse tournaments to miss the cut than the Sony Open. On Saturday, Davis Love III spent the morning fishing for opakapaka along the shores of Waialae Country Club. Joining him were PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and NBC golf analyst Mark Rolfing. ... Luke Donald is off to the best start among the rookies. The 24-year-old from England, a former NCAA champion at Northwestern, had three rounds in the 60s and was six strokes out of the lead. ... David Toms could have done without the distractions at the end of his round. A television cameraman kept moving behind the hole on No. 16. A construction worker rattled some pipes as he was about to hit on No. 17, and then he had to stop at the top of his backswing on the 18th when the gallerycheered a birdie putt on the adjacent hole.

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page