Who is Troy Kelly? Well, it might be time to get to know the Tacoma, WA native. He has been near the top, or atop the leader board for much of the the third round of the Greenbrier Classic.
Kelly is not from your typical golf location. His dad was a golf pro, but he did not grow up in a sunbelt state. He is from the Pacific Northwest where the weather is not conducive to playing golf on a year round basis. Here are some comments from Troy Kelly after his round today.
ON THE GREENBRIER COURSE–I like this course. Visually it is beautiful. The greens are fair and I have enjoyed playing here.
ON TIGER AND PHIL NOT MAKING THE CUT–It does make it a little more comfortable for a guy like me to not be competing against those guys on the final day. It is hard for me to believe that Tiger and Phil both missed the cut. They never do that.
ON GROWING UP IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON–It is the Pacific Northwest where it is cold and rainy for much of the year. It is not always pleasant weather when you play golf, but you can still play. I also loved basketball as a kid and have always played basketball competitively. For me, I think it was good not to specialize and concentrate on golf all year round. I liked a break from it. Some of my friends that moved to Arizona to play all year round got burned out on the game in college. Basketball was my winter activity when the weather got too bad to play outside. When basketball ended, then I picked up the golf clubs.
ON MEDICAL PROBLEMS—Several years ago, I was playing in Canada and my playing partner noticed I was limping. I didn’t even realize it. I thought I just had a pulled groin muscle. I tried to tough it out and play through it for the next two years. But, in 2010, I had trouble finishing rounds. I went to the doctor and found out that I had arthtritis in my hip. I had surgery and could not play for 5-7 months after surgery. It is much better now.