Serene setting a perfect stage for winner Kelly

KA‘UPULEHU, Hawaii >> Making the turn on the back nine at Hualalai takes the golfers to the far reaches of the Jack Nicklaus-designed course.

There was a nice crowd to greet Mitsubishi Electric Championship leaders Jerry Kelly and Colin Montgomerie at the ninth green but as the dynamic pairing headed to the 10th tee for the relatively easy par-5, the crowd thinned down.

Out here, Kelly and Montgomerie made some outstanding shots that only the marshals and a handful of fans observed, including a fabulous third stroke by eventual runner-up Montgomerie, who punched a 75-yard approach from the left side of the fairway that skidded just in front of the green and checked up 2 feet short of the hole for a kick-in birdie.

“Nice shot,” Kelly said to Monty after managing two perfect swings of his own to set up an 8-footer for eagle and perhaps distance himself from his senior rival as they made the long trek for home.

Kelly had already eagled the par-5 seventh from a similar distance with what he would call the best approach he had all day. Had that shot landed maybe a yard more to the left it could have easily tracked steady and true into the cup for an albatross.

Kelly would later say after winning this opening event on the PGA Tour Champions calendar that he’s already had a pair of 2s on par-5s and would have loved number three in this back-and-forth final round.

As Kelly put a shaky stroke on the 10th green for eagle, in the distance a car alarm sounded, setting off a horn that blasted three times as Kelly missed the easy putt to settle for a tap-in birdie of his own to remain tied with Montgomerie at 15 under for the tournament.

When asked if he had heard it, Kelly said, “Yeah.” Then laughed, saying, “No, I didn’t. Let me blame (the missed putt) on something. No, I didn’t hear it.”

At the 11th tee, it was now only three marshals and the golfers. The national television audience would join in the fun at the par-3 12th. Because of an ongoing strike at the Golf Channel, it was the second abbreviated broadcast of the year, limiting cameras to only the final seven holes.

This is about as far from the clubhouse as you can get and remain on the course carved out of a lava field that stretches as far as you can see. On the horizon is the Pacific Ocean, a magnificent body of black blue water that no camera can do justice.

The quiet that greeted these men who have played in front of thousands of screaming fans is broken only by the cracks of their drives. Perhaps sensing the loneliness of the setting, the sheer beauty that people from around the world get to see maybe once, maybe twice in their lifetimes, gave the few folks out here a moment to pause.

When the final threesome of Kelly, Montgomerie and Gene Sauers weren’t pounding their drives into the perfect patch of green that lay in front of them, they were gazing into the distance, a thousand-yard stare, if you will, caught up in this scene of silence, remembering things they shared with only themselves.

These men have been playing this game for a long time — from junior golf, to the PGA Tour, to right now. How many swings they have left in their bags before someone says, “time’s up” is something that can’t be known. But all three are closer to the end than the beginning of their careers.

As the last drive landed in the emerald grass, the half-dozen golfers and caddies packed up their gear reluctantly and moved on down the fairway, still caught in this part of the day, not talking among themselves, not wanting to leave this small corner of paradise.

Kelly would later talk about the spirits of Hawaii and how he draws upon that certain magic that those of us who live here know all too well. It’s not something you can scribble on a scorecard or measure in a yardage book. In that instant, in front of no one in particular, they strolled on toward the crowds that awaited them, lost in that beauty and knowing this moment in time would be with them for the rest of their lives.