Pals Stricker, Kelly differ in disposition, share same goal
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
NORTON, Mass. -- One is excitable, the other as laid-back as they come.
As different as their personalities are, though, Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly have been friends for what seems like forever.
They grew up about 30 minutes away from each other near Madison, Wis., where both now live with their families. The two 40-somethings started playing junior golf together way back in the early 1980s.
"He's been beating up on me for a long time," Kelly, the excitable one, acknowledged with a grin.
The two went their separate ways in college -- Stricker to Illinois and Kelly to the University of Hartford -- "but we found each other again on the PGA TOUR," Stricker, the laid-back one, said.
The veterans were paired together once again during Sunday's third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. It didn't take long for them to find their comfort zones, either, with Stricker shooting 65 and Kelly a 67.
Stricker will start the final round with a share of the lead at 13 under, tied with Retief Goosen and Sean O'Hair. Kelly is two strokes off their pace and eager to overtake his good friend, who will play in Sunday's final group for the second straight week.
Young dreams realized once again.
"I think both of us really wanted (to get to the TOUR)," Kelly said. "Really we had such a great Wisconsin group that that spurred us all into that spot. You see one make it to one level, you want to get to the next, and we just kind of kept leap-frogging each other until we all made it up.
"It's just a great group of guys, and it's kind of like the pairing today; it's the same type of situation where you can bring somebody along. We had a great time doing that today."
The tone for the afternoon was set at the first hole as both players made birdie. Kelly went on to shoot 5 under on the opening nine, making six birdies and one bogey. Stricker had four birdies and bogey before getting untracked on the homeward stretch and capping his round with an eagle at the 18th.
"We both got off to good starts," Stricker said. "He maintained that strong play all the way through the front side there. ... I just had a little bit stronger finish than he did. But he played great."
"I was happy obviously with my start," Kelly agreed. "... Six birdies on the front, I was kind of surprised to be shut out on the back. But I didn't hit it nearly as close on the back. I must have got a little loose.
"But they're tough pins. The wind is tough. The greens are firming up incredibly. You have to be careful; you can't be firing onto the pins in the back because one hop and they're gone. So a little protecting against being stupid, and that's what happens."
Stricker has won twice already this season, while Kelly picked up one, as well, to bring his career total to three. Both are within the magic top 30 in the FedExCup, too, and Stricker could take over No. 1 with a third win on Monday.
The two friends have been a source of support through the lean years. Stricker is a two-time PGA TOUR Comeback Player of the Year, after all, and Kelly went seven years between his most recent win in New Orleans and his last.
"He's been a great friend and a great help, and I appreciate it," Kelly said. "I feel like I was there for him when he had tough years, so we've just done it for each other."
One of those times came last year at the Merrill-Lynch Shootout when the two were partners. Kelly was struggling with his putter but has taken the advice Stricker gave him and improved from 156th last year to 30th in 2009.
"I finally got all of the good information out of it when it was to his benefit," Kelly said, laughing.
"I'm just happy that he's putting better because I've got him as a partner in the Shark Shootout again,'" Stricker countered. "...That was an area where ... he's just streaky, and he would admit that. But I think he's gotten very consistent with that this year.
"I've looked (at his stats) maybe two, three weeks ago, and those stats are a lot better, way up. So I'm happy for him, and he's put in the time and he's worked hard at getting better at it."
Kelly went to grade school with Stricker's wife, Nicki, and he joked that it took a while for her husband to warm up to him. Stricker protested that's not the case -- he just doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve like Kelly does.
"I've always liked Jerry," he said. "You've just got to take Jerry with a grain of salt and let him go do the things that he's going to do, and he knows that. Some things that he would do, I wouldn't do; and some things I do, he wouldn't do.
"But we get along fine. He's a great guy. He's a great family man. We enjoy being around each other. We spend a lot of time together at home and even out on the road. It was fun to play with him today."
One trait the two do share, though, is the love of competition. Kelly, who's three months older, got the better of his friend -- by two strokes -- the last time the two played together at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
"Just, like I say, I don't show it as much," Stricker said. "I found myself today grinding and bearing down as hard as ever. But that's what he does. You know, he's fighting to the very end and grinding it out, and that's what I love about him, and that's why he's a good player.
"I think we complement each other well."
One place the two probably won't meet is at The Presidents Cup at Harding Park next month. Stricker is already on the U.S. Team but the ever-patriotic Kelly, who visited troops in Iraq last Thanksgiving, likely would need to win on Sunday to have a shot at being one of Fred Couples' Captain's Picks.
"But that's secondary," Kelly said. "Winning the golf tournament is No. 1. Things come with that. (A win) would mean that I'm that much closer to the FedExCup and that's what we're all after.
"This is the Playoffs. You saw what Heath (Slocum, who jumped from No. 124 to third with a win in the Playoff event) can do. That's the bottom line. That's what we're here to do is to get that Cup at the end of the four weeks, and this is just one of those steps along the way."
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