D'Amato: Scott McCarron takes American Family title from Steve Stricker, Jerry Kelly
MADISON – Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly had their chances Sunday, and if either of them had won the American Family Insurance Championship, he’d still be getting toasted on State Street.
Madison’s finest climbed the leader board in the final round of the PGA Tour Champions event, each moving into at least a tie for the top spot on the back nine at University Ridge Golf Course and causing hairs to stand on end on a steamy, 85-degree day.
It’s hard to win a tournament anywhere, but to do it in your own backyard? Talk about a storybook ending for the tournament sponsors and the sizable galleries - attendance for the week was 65,000 - that tried their best to will one of their hometown heroes to victory.
Nothing against Scott McCarron, but he sure was a buzzkill.
McCarron, 52, one of the Champions tour’s bombers, overpowered U Ridge with his driver, birdied five of his last 10 holes and stole the title from under Stricker’s and Kelly’s noses. He shot an 8-under-par 64 and finished the 54-hole event at 15-under 201.
Asked how much gallery support he got down the stretch, McCarron laughed and said, “Not much.”
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LEADER BOARD: American Family Insurance championship
After he took the lead with a birdie on No. 16, he hit a 6-iron to within 8 feet of the cup on the long par-3 17th, a tremendous shot. Crickets. He piped a drive on 18 and then hit another great approach into the green. Nothing.
“I knew it was close when I got only two or three claps,” McCarron said. “I knew everybody was kind of upset. But it was still fun. Jerry and Steve both are true champions and local favorites and, of course, everybody is going to be rooting for them.”
Kelly birdied Nos. 12, 13, 15 and 16 to move into a tie for the lead at 14-under. But he knew he’d need one more birdie, because McCarron had yet to play the par-5 16th, practically an automatic birdie for him because of his length.
Kelly’s birdie attempt came up inches short on the 17th and then he missed the green right on the 18th. His delicate downhill-sidehill chip never sniffed the cup. A two-time winner this year, he shot a 65 and finished second, one shot back at 202.
“I really thought it was going to happen, you know?” he said. “I’m disappointed, there’s no doubt.”
The sting of coming up short in front of friends and family was reminiscent of Kelly’s runner-up finish at the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open, when he lost a playoff to Loren Roberts.
“They’re probably both in the same boat,” Kelly said. “I feel like I let the GMO slip a little bit more, not getting things done in the playoff, but that was my rookie year in a playoff, hometown. ... I was really nervous. This one, my wits were about me. I was totally fine. I just misplayed a few putts.”
Earlier in the week, Kelly and his caddie, Eric Meller, took on McCarron and his wife, Jenny, in a friendly best-ball match at Maple Bluff Country Club, Kelly’s home course. Kelly and Meller won the match and the princely sum of $5.
“Jerry birdied the last three holes and we ended up losing, 1-down, so they won $5 off us,” McCarron said. “So I was a little upset there. But it’s his home course. Come on, I can’t beat Jerry on his home course” – he flashed a smile – “but I can beat him here at the tournament.”
The consolation for Kelly was that he moved back into the No. 1 spot on the money list with $1,066,763 – no, the $5 does not count – some $43,000 ahead of Bernhard Langer, who tied for 10th. Kelly also leads the Champions tour with eight top-10 finishes.
Then there was Stricker, the tournament host and a brand ambassador for American Family Insurance, who fought back from a second-round 74 – his first-ever over-par round on the Champions tour – and briefly held a share of the lead at 13-under. He shot a 65 and finished two shots back at 203, tied for third with Colin Montgomerie and defending champion Fred Couples.
In six starts on the Champions tour this year, Stricker has two victories, two runner-up finishes, a tie for third and a tie for fifth. He is fifth on the money list with $926,235.
“This tournament was kind of a microcosm of my year,” he said. “I do some really good things and then I throw in some not-so-good things. Like the whole round yesterday, that was the worst round I’ve played all year. That just killed me.”
Stricker will take two weeks off and then play in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, July 12-15. It’s a tournament he’s won three times.
As for McCarron, he headed off into the sunset with his seventh Champions tour victory and a $300,000 check. But before leaving, he wanted to make sure reporters knew that his wife is a Waukesha native.
“Hopefully, next year,” he deadpanned, “I’ll get a little support.”