Boo Weekley birdied the 18th hole at University Ridge Golf Course to tie Glen Day for the first-round lead at the American Family Insurance Championship on Friday in Madison, Wisconsin.
Weekley and Day both shot 4-under rounds of 68 on Friday, setting the early pace. They are followed closely by a group of six players just one shot behind, including defending champion Steve Stricker, David Duval, Jerry Kelly, Lee Janzen, Duffy Waldorf, and Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, all at 3-under 69.
Weekley, 50, a well-known character on the PGA Tour with three wins to his name, joined the 50-and-older circuit last summer. He got off to a strong start with three consecutive birdies on holes 2-4, added another birdie on the back nine, and finished with a birdie on the 18th hole despite a single bogey.
Day, 58, who hasn’t won a professional tournament since 1999, put himself in contention with his performance on Friday. After his only bogey of the day, he made an eagle on the 13th hole.
“I had a pretty good yardage, I had a sand wedge and it was like a 95-yard sand wedge,” Day said. “I got lucky, obviously, when you make one like that. It hit maybe two inches short of the green and rolled in.”
Stricker, the tournament host, and Kelly, both Madison natives, have won the event before. Kelly’s victories came in 2019 and 2021.
Kelly recently revealed he is battling rheumatoid arthritis, which has required him to take a low-level chemotherapy drug to manage the condition.
On Friday, Kelly was 1 over par for his first 10 holes but then made a remarkable recovery with five consecutive birdies before finishing with a bogey.
“That’s why I had to not try to get fired up because I said I wanted to be stronger for myself, and I was so hard on myself those first bunch of holes,” Kelly said. “I was just like, you know, I’m telling myself I may never play well. Your brain goes to dark places and I was dark again. It’s like, c’mon. We had people out there cheering, having fun. I just got to get stronger mentally and the physical side hopefully will follow. Yeah, I’ve got to get better.”
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