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DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 4, 2011Jerry KellyNORTON, MASSACHUSETTS MARK STEVENS: We'd like to welcome Jerry Kelly. You got it to 10-under. Seems to be a logjam in there. If you want to talk about how the course played today and then we'll have a few questions. JERRY KELLY: Well, it's firming up still. It's kind of like a box of chocolates; you never really know what you're going to get. It's getting real solid. If we don't get any of that rain tomorrow, hopefully we don't, because I need the fairways to roll, please. But some of the clubs that I have into these greens, it's tough to hold them. I've got to pay attention to where I land it. I land it short of the greens at times. It's a good golf course out there. Everybody thinks so. Q. You were talking a little bit yesterday about going in and having those tests run before the PGA. What prompted you to go do it and to have that much of a pretty much a full engine diagnostic, to have two days in at this point in the ballgame? JERRY KELLY: One word? Pain. Q. Everywhere? JERRY KELLY: Yeah. You know, I didn't know what being an old fellow felt like. It hurts, man. Q. So their explanation after all that was there's nothing really wrong with you other than you're just old? JERRY KELLY: Well, basically. You look at anybody who plays this sport for an extended period of time -- I mean, I've got tears in both shoulders, tears in both hips. I've restructured my knee. I've had a lot of action going on. I broke a lot of bones playing hockey, I broke a lot of bones doing stupid stuff, and you know, my body has been through 44 pretty tough years. So you know, I actually took it as good. Micro-tears, things like that, my MCLs, ACLs are good, my rotator cuffs are good. It's just wear and tear. You know, I take that as a positive really. I know I've played for a long time and I've done a lot of crazy cross-training things and hurt my body many different ways. It's holding up really well. I'm happy with it. Q. Knowing all that, how do you still compete with the younger guys? JERRY KELLY: Hmm. Good things I put a muzzle on myself sometimes. I'll tell you what, it was really funny up here. (Pointing to brain.) No, this game is still a mental game. You can be as gifted physically and get beat by somebody mentally. You know, I know I'm in a good place mentally this week. I'm playing the game rather than normally the game plays me a little bit, so I'm really happy with my mental game this week, and that's what I want to take into tomorrow. Regardless of game plan, pins, how I'm hitting it, I take my mental game in there and I'm happy with the way I come out, regardless. Q. You by your own admission have been pretty much a 99 percent red line player because you have to be to keep up with these guys. How hard has it been for you to kind of throttle it back and swing in your shoes like you've been talking about this week and try to keep it on the planet and play the par-3s in three shots I guess basically, right? JERRY KELLY: Well, what I ended up finding out at the PGA was that I was hitting it farther. So you know, I know I've been off on my setup, and I don't know if it's backswing or downswing, that's why I'm still struggling a little bit. I'm not sure where that smooth transition to power at the bottom is at the moment. But it's probably still better than it was because even though I'm missing it more, I'm not lunging at the misses, which used to really cause more problems. I'm still letting the club come on the ball a little bit more, and it's helping my misses actually be very playable. Q. Are you surprised at all that none of the guys that started at 10, 9 or 8 really kind of went sort of low and created some situation? JERRY KELLY: Yes, I am. I thought I'd be getting passed pretty hard being 2- and 3-under. I thought somebody would -- I thought there would be a decent amount of guys going 5, 6, 7. But that wind is not a consistent wind. It's swirly. And when you have a golf course that's firming up and you're playing it with wind, where you have to pinpoint where you land it, otherwise you bounce through greens, you know, those five, seven yards that don't normally throw us off, that gusty wind throws us off and next thing you know you've got putts up ridges or you're chipping from over the green. Even that little bit of wind on a firm green will make a difference. Q. You talked about being stronger mentally, about playing the game, not letting it play you. I know that's something you struggle with in your career. How did you get to this point? JERRY KELLY: I don't know. I almost don't want to know. I just want to keep doing it. I've tried so hard for so long. But really, I really do believe it's the way I've been able to swing at it has translated into my mental game. I mean, how can you try and be relaxed mentally and then use everything you've got to hit the shot? Those don't work well together. So I'm probably still up from trying to use so much when the shot doesn't turn out, and it's not like I'm going to go right back to settling down. Now I'm settled through almost all of it, and I think it's helping those two marry. That's my explanation and I'm sticking to it. Q. When did you reach this epiphany to sort of mellow out your swing? JERRY KELLY: It was playing with some guys up at Red Tail up in Canada, and I went up there, had a great time and said, I'm just going to swing as smooth as I can. It might have been because I might have been seeing two balls that morning (laughter), but it showed me something. Q. Pre-PGA? JERRY KELLY: Yeah. And I just said, hey, I'm taking this as far as it'll go. And I went through the PGA and things were good, so I just kept going. Q. I'm assuming you weren't kidding. I was wondering if you could tell the story about your two days of tests and how many hours in the MRI tube and were you really kidding when you said you fell asleep in the thing? JERRY KELLY: No. They had to redo a bunch of them, and still, in a lot of the reports that came out, motion artifacts, motion artifacts. That's me falling asleep. When you spend six and a half hours in there -- they definitely said that I hold the record. That's the longest anybody has been able to be in there. Usually they only do three hours max, not even three hours. An hour, hour and a half. Q. Where was the test? JERRY KELLY: It was Turville Bay in Madison. I go to UW, and they send me over there. Q. Back in August? JERRY KELLY: Yeah, something like that. Q. Before the PGA? JERRY KELLY: Yeah. Q. After the British, before the PGA? JERRY KELLY: Yeah. MARK STEVENS: Thanks a lot, Jerry. Good luck tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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