FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jerry Kelly paid off his Rose Bowl bet to J.J. Henry on Wednesday, wearing TCU's SuperFrog mascot suit to play the first hole in his pro-am at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
Kelly, a Madison, Wisc., resident, had bet Henry, who graduated from TCU, that Wisconsin would win the Rose Bowl. TCU won 21-19, and Henry collected on his bet Wednesday. TCU coach Gary Patterson joined the twosome in their pro-am group.
Had Wisconsin won, Henry would have had to wear the mascot suit of the Badgers.
Here's a look at Kelly after he took a few practice putts in the SuperFrog suit.
J.J. Henry has an exciting week planned at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
On Tuesday, the Henry House Foundation, which Henry started in 2006, will join with the Jewel Charity to present a $300,000 check to Cook Children's Hospital. The money will fund the development of the Henry House Teen Room for patients there.
In addition, another $50,000 donation will be made to The First Tee of Fort Worth on Saturday as part of the Henry House Foundation's on-going efforts to build the Ben Hogan Learning Center there.
Those two opportunities to help children in the Fort Worth area will make Henry's heart feel good. But what happens on Wednesday is sure to tickle his funny bone.
Henry went to school at Texas Christian University, which is within walking distance of Colonial, and now makes his home in Fort Worth. So he made a wager on the Rose Bowl with Jerry Kelly, who was born and still lives in Madison, Wis.
Thanks to TCU's 21-19 victory over the Badgers, Kelly must wear the Super Frog mascot's costume on Wednesday prior to the pro-am. If you're there, look for Kelly's best frog impersonation on the putting green around noon CT.
At 12:20 p.m CT, Henry will play with TCU football coach Gary Patterson in the Crowne Plaza Invitational Pro-Am. He's hoping Kelly will play the first hole with them -- wearing the Super Frog costume.
"We want to get lots of pictures and make him wear it for 20 or 25 minutes," Henry told Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Jerry is being a great sport about it. It's going to be great."
You know scoring is tough when the overnight leader -- J.J. Henry in this case -- is 3 over through 12 holes in the second round and he’s still just one shot back.
That’s the scenario unfolding at TPC San Antonio, though, where there’s a logjam of players at 3 under -- four of which are already in the clubhouse. Among that group already done are Geoff Ogilvy and Rich Beem.
It’s no surprise Ogilvy is in the mix. Aussies tend to play well in the wind and we’re seeing that so far.
As a result of the difficult conditions the cut line has also moved. It’s now 3 over, up from 2 over earlier in the day.
How tough are conditions at TPC San Antonio right now? Well, J.J. Henry is 1 over through his first 10 holes and he’s still in the lead.
Of the four guys on the leaderboard right behind Henry, none of them broke70. The lowest round going on the course right now? Two under.
And how about this: The distance between the leader and the cut line could by just five strokes by the end of the day (Henry is currently 3 under and the cut is 2 over). That would be the smallest gap on the PGA TOUR since 2007.
The next closest distance between the leader and the cut line since then was six shots at the 2009 RBC Canadian Open, where the lead was 9 under and the cut 3 under.
Overnight co-leader J.J. Henry just teed off at TPC San Antonio, where he suddenly has company thanks to a bogey on his opening hole. That drops Henry to 4 under and into a tie with Kevin Sutherland, who’s 3 under through 15, and Brandt Snedeker, who’s 1 under through 15.
It also means there’s a seven-way tie for the lead.
It’s early, but there aren’t exactly a lot of low scores being shot out there on what is looking like a very tough track.
The scoring average for the second round is already at 75.337, which is more than two strokes higher than it played on Thursday.
The toughest hole on the golf course so far in Round 2? The 410-yard par-4 12th. Only two birdies have been made there so far -- by Sutherland and Matt Every -- and it’s playing to a stroke average of 4.671 with 31 bogeys, six double bogeys, two others and only 29 pars.
J.J. Henry didn’t even have to hit a shot to reclaim the lead early Friday. He can thank Stewart Cink for that.
Cink, who had a share of the overnight lead with a 67 Thursday, has plummeted down the leaderboard after playing his first 12 holes here in Round 2 in 5 over.
Things started well enough for Cink, who hasn’t won since the 2009 British Open, with four pars and a birdie over his first five holes at TPC San Antonio. Since then, it’s been a mess with three bogeys and a triple bogey over his last eight holes.
The triple bogey for Cink came on No. 9 -- the same hole where Kevin Na infamously made a 16 on Thursday -- where Cink hit it left off the tee, had to punch out and then came up short of the green on his approach. He then pitched onto the fringe but left himself some 50 feet and took three more strokes to get home, missing his attempt at double from just inside 10 feet.
Adam Scott, who started the day just one back, has also fallen back. The Aussie has three bogeys and two birdies through his first 13 holes and he’s already taken 23 putts.
The big story of the opening round wasn’t so much who was leading but that of Kevin Na, who made a 16 on the par-4 ninth hole (in case you somehow missed it, click here ). The other story was of course J.J. Henry and Stewart Cink sharing the lead. Cink has since disappeared thanks to a 4-over start through his first 11 holes, but Masters contender Adam Scott is still high on the leaderboard. Who will take the lead going into the weekend? Discuss here.
J.J. Henry hasn't won on the PGA TOUR since 2006 in Hartford. But the way he's been playing this year, you've got to think that could be about to change.
The Connecticut transplant, who went to school at Texas Christian and settled in Fort Worth, hasn't missed a cut in 10 starts this season. Henry has finished 20th or higher in half of those events, including in five of his last six.
And Thursday brought more of the same kind of consistent play from Henry, who fired a bogey-free 67 on a breezy Thursday that earned him the clubhouse lead at the Valero Texas Open.
"I think the key out here is definitely a ball striker's golf course," said Henry, who owns a one-stroke advantage over charley Hoffman, Jhonattan Vegas, Vaughn Taylor and Joseph Bramlett.
"The key is to keep it in play. There's holes you can definitely get in trouble out here. I drove the ball great today and hit the ball pretty close. Pretty stress-free day which, obviously, on a golf course like this, is nice to do that I'm sure."
Henry missed the cut a year ago when the Valero Texas Open first moved to the AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio. He feels that he’s a more complete player this year, though, and it shows in that string of solid finishes.
"My strength has always been my driving and hitting a lot of greens, not necessarily where you have to shoot 20 under par to win a golf tournament," Henry said.
"... I've been a lot more consistent this year. I've worked hard on my short game and my putting is really starting to come around."
Indeed. He ranks 73rd in putting average this year compared with 115th, 160th and 178th in the three previous seasons. Henry also ranks sixth in ball-striking, 13th in greens in regulation and 19th in scoring average.
"I'm 36 years old now, just turned last week, so, hopefully, my best golf is still ahead of me," Henry said. "The consistency is there and that's what I like. It's just a question of giving myself a couple chances, obviously maybe having that one round.
"… I feel confident and fortunately on a golf course like this you got to feel confident, the holes with a lot of slope and different undulating shots. Definitely a ball striker's golf course. Hopefully I can continue to hit it well and see what happens the next couple of days." -- Helen Ross
J.J. Henry still has the lead after an opening-round 67 earlier today, but players are lining up behind him with Charley Hoffman, Jhonattan Vegas and Vaughn Taylor all in the clubhouse with 68s.
Rookie Joseph Bramlett is also 4 under and has three holes to play.
Very quietly, J.J. Henry has put together a pretty respectable year with a half-dozen top-25s, which includes one finish in the top 10, in 10 starts this year. He also hasn’t missed a cut.
Thursday, he took a big step toward improving on that with a bogey-free 5-under 67 at TPC San Antonio.
That Henry is in contention shouldn’t be that much of a surprise really. The Fort Worth resident is 21st on the PGA TOUR in total driving -- distance plus accuracy -- and also ranks 13th in greens in regulation and 19th in adjusted scoring average.
Henry kept that trend going, for the most part, in the opening round, hitting 14 of 18 greens in regulation (though he only hit seven of 14 fairways). He also took just 27 putts and was perfect from inside 10 feet, going 17-for-17.