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."
The cut line is currently at even par. which is bad news for Rickie Fowler, who is 1 over on the tournament.
The good news for Fowler is he has time to recover after playing his first six holes Friday in 3 over with a triple bogey on the par-4 fourth and a bogey on the par-4 fifth.
Other notables on the wrong side of the number include 2009 winner Jerry Kelly, who is 5 over for the week (and 2 under through nine holes Friday) and Justin Rose, who is also 5 over (and even par through eight holes).
Jeff Overton, a runner-up here a year ago, is also flirting with missing the cut. He’s 1 under through eight holes today and right on the number for the week.
PGATOUR.COM is scheduled to stream six interviews Tuesday and Wednesday from the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Tune in to see players answer questions from the media.
Tuesday
3 p.m. ET -- Brandt Snedeker
4:30 p.m. ET -- Jerry Kelly
Wednesday
TBD -- Luke Donald
TBD -- Jason Bohn
TBD -- Steve Stricker
TBD -- Graeme McDowell
3 p.m. ET -- Justin Rose
In his post-round interview with the PGA TOUR Network on Sunday after The Honda Classic, Jerry Kelly referred to Y.E. Yang by a nickname, “Yangsta.”
Maybe we need to hang around the locker room at TOUR events a little more often because it got us wondering: Is this a common nickname for the Korean star, who comes off a second-place finish at PGA National?
We have seen Yang referred to as “Yangster” by a few golf writers, but we just haven’t heard a TOUR pro cite the, ahem, “street” version until now.
When Kelly said it, Bill Kratzert – who was conducting the interview for the PGA TOUR Network – began to laugh off microphone.
No doubt it’s certainly a cool nickname.
And now we have our headline for the next time Yang wins an event: Yangsta’s Paradise.
Yep, Coolio will be happy.
CLICK HERE to listen to Kelly’s reference to the Yangsta (it's at the 27-second mark) .
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- After making just four bogeys in his first 62 holes this week, Rory Sabbatini has two bogeys in his last six holes to see his once-commanding lead of five dwindle to two shots entering the difficult Bear Trap.
Sabbatini just bogeyed the 14 th hole to drop to 8 under when he missed the green and failed to get up-and-down. Y.E. Yang, who won The Honda Classic two years ago, made a 9-foot par save at No. 14 to move within two. Jerry Kelly also bogeyed the 14 th hole to remain three shots back.
To follow them live with Shot Tracker, click here . -- Craig Dolch
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Jerry Kelly may owe a photographer a big favor if he rallies to win The Honda Classic.
Kelly’s round was in deep trouble when his second shot at the par-4 sixth hole stuck in a tree. Because he couldn’t identify it, he would have had to declare it a lost ball and go back and hit his fourth shot from the rough. He would have been looking at a double bogey -- or worse.
But photographer Allen Eyestone of the Palm Beach Post was able to use his telephoto lens to take a picture and then enlarge the image so Kelly could identify his ball.
“That was a first, no question,” Kelly said.
When asked if he could have identified his ball without the help, he said, “No. (I tried) binoculars. And I have pretty good eyes, and I wouldn't have been able to see it.”
Kelly was instead allowed to declare an unplayable lie, he took a penalty shot and chipped to 13 feet and made the putt for quite a bogey save.
That enabled Kelly to shoot a 68 and move into a second-place tie with Y.E. Yang, five shots behind leader Rory Sabbatini. -- Craig Dolch
Jerry Kelly may have provided the shot of the day with a 50-footer for birdie at the par-4 10th, but Rory Sabbatini has been solid all day with two birdies and nary a bogey on the scorecard through his first nine holes. As a result, Sabbatini leads by one over Kyle Stanley as he makes the turn at PGA National, where he made four birdies in the third round on Nos. 11, 13, 14 and 15.
While Sabbatini isn’t putting quite as well as he did on Friday when he took just nine putts over his final nine holes, he is making a decent share of them at 1.78 putts per green in regulation.
Others making moves here in Round 3: Matt Bettencourt is 4 under through 15 holes and now tied for fourth, while Charles Howell III has climbed 19 spots into a tie for 10th after a 67.
So much for momentum. After making birdie on three of his first five holes, Jerry Kelly’s second shot on No. 6 found a tree -- as in it got stuck in the upper reaches of the palm tree. Still, hope wasn’t lost thanks to technology.
Because Kelly couldn’t exactly climb the tree to identify the ball, he called on a photographer and his high powered lens to identify the ball. Thanks to that camera, Kelly and an official were able to positively identify the ball by the markings on it as it was compared to another ball in Kelly’s bag.
Kelly took an unplayable lie, dropped his ball and suffered a one-stroke penalty as a result, rather than having to go back to where he hit his previous shot and take a one-stroke penalty from there. He got up and down from the drop and made bogey on the hole.
With three birdies in his first five holes, Jerry Kelly moved within a shot of the lead currently being held by Kyle Stanley and now Rory Sabbatini.
When you look at the numbers, it’s no wonder Kelly is contention. He’s in the top 10 in the field in driving accuracy and putting and is tied for 12th in greens in regulation -- only a 50 percent clip in a windblown first round kept him from ranking higher.
It’s been a slow couple of weeks for Kelly, though -- he missed the cut in Phoenix then tied for 50th in Mexico. Saturday has been a different story, however, with Kelly yet to miss a fairway and having hit all but one green in regulation. He’s also taken just six putts.
To follow Kelly live on Shot Tracker, click here .