Sidelines
It's a great thing, to see someone win for the first time. It's a gift, really. It's part of why we watch sports, why we follow, why we care. It's why every four years we pay attention to the Olympics, even though none of us really understands (or wants to) things like sticking the landing or triple toe loops. Kelly ascends into PGA
winner’s fraternityBut we watch. We want to feel those feelings, we want to smile those smiles and wipe those tears and hug those hugs. We want to celebrate another someone becoming a winner.
And when it happens, when we see them go through that wonderful metamorphosis, we share it just a little bit.
That's what we had yesterday at the Sony Open. That's what this was, behind all the hula dancers and awards ceremonies and trophies and oversized checks. It all came down to a guy who finally won, and deserved it.
Dreams came true for Jerry Kelly, and he'll always remember that it happened here.
"I get to come back and do it again next week (at Palm Springs)," he said. "I'm dying for next week. Dying."
He's a changed man now, a champion, he's born again.
"I'm excited," he said. "I'm really excited. I've wanted this for a long time. It's another step. Another step in the right direction."
And then he talked about shooting 65s on Sundays. And taking on Tiger, and beating Tiger. And majors, and winning them.
"I'm rambling," he said happily. And he was.
It's been a long road. So much has happened. Debacles and freaky things, changing swings and changing coaches. Jerry Kelly has never been a superstar. At every stop, he was never quite as good as he thought he would be. He was always behind his own timetable. Everything came slowly, step by step, bit by bit. But he climbed.
And today he's a champion.
It happened the way most things do, gradually, and then suddenly.
Three years of work blossomed this week, when his swing worked, when he knew it, knew even if he hit it badly, it was going straight. He knew it. He could feel it. And he let it fly.
"I wanted to kind of let it flow the last bunch of holes since that was the way I was taking this tournament," he said.
He finally had the freedom to win. For the first time, he knew he was going to win.
And then John Cook, on his tail, had bogeyed the hole just ahead of him on 17, the victim of a cell phone that went off "right at the point of no return." Cook was in the mood to reach out and touch somebody. And Kelly was back in control.
But then Kelly bogeyed 17, too. He three-putted and crumpled to the grass. And now, everything was close.
But Kelly rebounded. His tee shot on 18 was everything he wanted it to be. He had his swing. He was letting it flow.
"I just really swung smooth and let the ball turn over with that wind and it just really felt good coming off the club," he said.
But walking up 18, you could hear the roar. Cook had birdied. "It was what you want Sunday to be about," he said.
And Kelly kept walking.
"Now he's gotta birdie to win it," a man on the ropes said. "Now a par ain't gonna cut it," the fan said. And everybody knew it. And Kelly knew it most of all.
Kelly's caddy, Tom Janis, told him to just swing. He had the swing now. Time to become a champion.
"I wasn't going to do the things that let somebody else win. I wanted to win the tournament," Kelly said.
And he did, both arms raised, and then a fist, and then it all hit him, and he soared, and he just knew that he could beat the world.
We crowned another winner yesterday.
It never gets old.
Kalani Simpson's column runs Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
He can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com