Jerry Kelly, age 50 and Steve Stricker, a youngster at 49, went on a scoring rampage Thursday in Naples and shot 16-under par at the Franklin-Templeton Shootout.
The elders of the 12-team field shot a 56 at the Tiburon Golf Club in a scramble format that spotted them a one-shot lead over Harris English and Matt Kuchar.
There’s a lady in the field — Lexi Thompson, the highest-ranked American player on the LPGA Tour. She and partner Bryson DeChambeau managed to get into double-figures at 10-under par but the big news is that they managed to beat four teams, including the PGA Tour hot-shot duo of Justin Thomas and Smylie Kaufman, who only got to nine-under, tied for last.
Friday’s round will be a modified alternate shot format where both players hit their drives, select the best then play alternate shot from there.
Saturday’s final round will be best-ball.
