It had been nice weather for ducks all week in the Scottish PGA Championship but, in the end, it was an eagle at Gleneagles that had Chris Kelly flying high.
The Hoover Dam would have struggled to cope with the amount of water that had dropped down on the Perthshire resort since Sunday. After four days of delays, disruptions and dismay that had led to the event being reduced to just 36-holes for the first time since 1966, Glasgow man Kelly bridged a 12-year title gap and claimed the second national professionals' championship of his career.
He had to wait a while to secure it, mind you. In fact, he waited about 40 hours. Having finished his second round late on Monday night, Kelly lounged around on Tuesday as he watched the rest play catch up and he was eventually joined on a three-under tally of 139 by Paul McKechnie. Due to the general chaos caused by the downpours, the leading duo had to return yesterday morning for the play-off once the remaining players in the field had finally splashed their way through 36-holes. The shoot-out for the title was staged over the downhill, par-5 18th and it was Kelly who emerged triumphant. His second shot to the green came to rest within 15-feet while McKechnie's trundled to about eight-feet. Kelly's putt toppled in the front of the hole for an eagle-three as he struck a telling blow but McKechnie couldn't respond and his eagle attempt failed to drop. The trophy, and the £6000 first prize, belonged to Kelly. Mother Nature may not have been kind to the tournament but the golfing gods looked down favourably on Kelly.
"There's no doubt that Paul and I got the better side of the draw but I've had the bad draw so many times before so it was nice to get the right side for once," said the 37-year-old, who won his first Scottish PGA title back in 2003. Having spent the winter working in a bar and helping out the Gleneagles greenkeepers, Kelly re-dedicated himself to his golf with a new fitness regime and a rigorous timetable of "80 hours a week" of practice over the past month. "This is an early pay off and it's a massive win for me," he added. "This was my No 1 goal; to come and win my national title. I've got four goals and that's the first one ticked off the list."
Of the 28 players who returned to put the finishing touches to their second rounds yesterday, it was Paul Lawrie, the former Open champion, who had the best chance of gate-crashing affairs. The 46-year-old, who won his second Scottish PGA title 10 years ago, needed to conjure something of a birdie blitz over his remaining five holes to give himself hope but that petered out on his very first hole of the day - the 14th - when he four-putted from 30-feet en route to a closing 73 for a 143 and a share of ninth.
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