“Johnny, I’m keeping my feet calm.”

“Johnny, I’m keeping my feet calm.”

“Johnny, I’m keeping my feet calm.”

Over and over, over 67 strokes on Sunday, across 18 Prestonwood Country Club holes, Jerry Kelly said he stressed that to himself, and he said he followed through on it, and wouldn’t you know it — it worked. He’s your winner this week on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, at the SAS Championship. Unhappy feet. And a happy golfer. 

Just like Johnny thought he could be Saturday night.  

Prior to the week, the year had been arduous for Kelly. He was contending, but was hurting. He said he’s been diagnosed with lyme and rheumatoid arthritis, and treatment led to back complications that not until recently were cleared up. “Hopefully I don’t have to have surgery at all,” Kelly said, adding in a very Kelly way, “and we can just have that jelly go back in the doughnut somehow.” The Jon Trasamar news, though, was most trying to him. It all came to national light last November, after PGA Tour pro Erik van Rooyen won in Mexico, and van Rooyen said Trasamar, van Rooyen’s college teammate and best friend, was dying. The scene was emotional. Just days later, Trasamar passed. 

He’d also been the husband of Kelly’s niece, Allie. Kelly said everyone was close. They think of Allie as a daughter. She’s been traveling a bit with the pro, Kelly said. To South Dakota. To Pebble. To Napa. “Yeah, love is strong,” Kelly said. Last Saturday, Kelly said folks held a memorial golf event for Johnny. 

A week later, on Saturday night, Kelly said Johnny came to him in a dream. 

Sunday, Kelley first said it briefly in his opening thought in his winner’s press conference, and the full quote is below. 

“Well, I played when Freddie [Couples] won a few years ago and he absolutely blitzed us all, I think he shot 60. I was trying to channel that a little bit. Really, we just had a memorial service for Jon Trasamar, Trazzy, last Saturday. That, I can’t tell you, he was playing through me today. I don’t even know what to say. He came to me last night and I’ll never forget it. It’s a gift from God. I just played for him as much as I could today, that is it. That’s why it happened.”

A short while later, a reporter was curious if Kelly would share more. 

He paused. Maybe it all sounded weird. But Kelly decided you should hear. The full quote is below.  

“I mean, I was going to keep this one to me. I had a dream last night and I was hitting balls with my coach, Jim Schuman. We couldn’t figure out — the ball was going nowhere. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t swing. 

“Jon showed up last night, said, ‘Hey, mind if I say something?’ I mean, biggest smile on his face. He had a little Southern accent in there, too. I mean, I was just shocked. 

“All he said was, ‘You know, the last time this happened, you and Coop played and all you tried to do was keep your feet calm for a week and you played great.’ 

“Over every shot today I was like, ‘Johnny, I’m keeping my feet calm.’ I mean, it was the most incredible gift. I thank God for that gift, letting him come in. I can’t — I can’t believe it happened. And this has happened. It’s crazy.”

Kelly then described him. Most of that is above. For more, we respectfully point you here. At the end of the session, Kelly was asked what the win meant to him.

Easy one.  

“Because of that, this is my — this is definitely my favorite win,” Kelly said. I mean, there’s no question. It just means so much more. 

“It’s pretty incredible.”

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.