LDN - Sports

Kelly earns share of early lead at Travelers Championship

[August 05, 2016] The Sports Xchange

Jerry Kelly, four months shy of qualifying for the Champions tour, is making a bid for a win on the PGA Tour.

Kelly fired a 6-under-par 64 on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn. Andrew Loupe and Vaughn Taylor also shot 64 at TPC River Highlands.

Ben Martin, Australia's Marc Leishman and Spain's Jon Rahm are tied for fourth at 65.

Sharing seventh place at 66 are Daniel Berger and Mexico's Carlos Ortiz.

Fifteen players, including defending champion Bubba Watson and Fiji's Vijay Singh, are tied for ninth at 67.

Kelly wasn't exactly on a hot streak entering the tournament. He missed the cut in four consecutive events before tying for 26th in the RBC Canadian Open. He is already looking ahead to a full-time PGA Tour Champions schedule, though he will continue to play occasion PGA Tour events.

"I hit a lot of good shots," Kelly said of his Thursday round. "I putted well also. I hit a couple good shots that would roll off the greens, and then I would have very tough up and downs.

"I use the putter a lot from off the green, which I'm fairly good at. It's tough up and downs on some of these when you short side yourself. Being able to have the putter in my hand helped. I hit the ball very well."

Kelly has three career PGA Tour wins, the most recent coming in the 2009 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Taylor's round included a stretch of five consecutive birdies on the back nine.

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"I was feeling good and hitting some good shots," he said "Putter started feeling better. You know, just get on a run sometimes and just kind of ride."

Taylor captured the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February for his first tour victory since 2005. After that, he missed the cut in nine of his next 13 tournaments, and he hasn't finished higher than a tie for 33rd in 16 tournaments.

"I thought coming out of Pebble my game was ready, but it just wasn't quite there," he said. "I've had to work on my swing a little bit. And putting and chipping. A little bit of everything.

"I thought I was just going to keep it rolling, but that's golf. Just when you think you got it, you kind of got reassess. It's good this week. Played well last week. Hopefully keep moving."

Loupe is feeling more comfortable at TPC River Highlands because it is his third visit.

"Seeing the course a couple times before helps a lot," he said. "I feel like I'm making strides in the right direction. I just got to keep my head down and keep going."

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