Given that there was a 12 year gap between his maiden Scottish PGA Championship win in 2003 and his second last season, Chris Kelly probably hasn’t been that bothered that he’s had to wait over 14 months to defend the national title.
Kelly’s success over the King’s Course at Gleneagles in 2015 happened in May. Here in October 2016, he will try and retain his crown this week as the 100th staging of the Tartan Tour’s showpiece, which is sponsored by M&H Logistics, gets underway this morning.
At least that cherished piece of silverware, won by celebrated names such John Panton, Eric Brown, Sandy Lyle, Sam Torrance, Bernard Gallacher and Paul Lawrie down the decades, has been plonked on Kelly’s mantelpiece for a bit longer than usual.
“I must already be the longest-running PGA champion,” said the Glasgow man ahead of his bid to become the first player to claim back-to-back titles since Ross Drummond in 1989 and 1990.
"Winning the event last year was probably better than my first victory back in 2003 as I thought successes like that had passed me by. I had also put a lot of effort into last season so it was good to see that rewarded with both my Scottish PGA Championship and Northern Open victories.”
In a 66-man field which features 11 past champions, Kelly will face some stiff competition in Perthshire. Greig Hutcheon, the dominant force on the domestic scene for the past few years and a two-time winner of the Scottish PGA crown, heads a list of likely lads which also includes former national champions Alastair Forsyth and Chris Doak as well as sturdy campaigners like Graham Fox, Gareth Wright, Scott Henderson, Jason McCreadie and the O’Hara brothers, Steven and Paul.
This week’s centenary celebrations of Scotland’s national championship will, fittingly, unfold over a refurbished King’s Course which has been restored to the original design laid out by James Braid almost 100 years ago.
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