Wide World of Kitsap Sports

Noticed that Port Orchard native Willie Bloomquist has switched numbers. He’ll wear jersey No. 2 with the Royals. He wore No. 16 with the Mariners. DH Billy Butler wears No. 16 for the Royals.

Willie created a little bit of a buzz at the Royals’ fanfest when he told the crowd that the goal is to go to the playoffs. You can read that story here.

And here’s a story about the player Willie will be competing against for a starting position at second base. The story says shortstop, but Albert Collaspo is a second baseman.

And if you want to makes plans to watch Bloomquist when he comes back to Seattle, Kansas City visits Safeco Field for a four-game series on Aug. 27-28-29-30.

Troy Kelly shot an even par 70 in the fourth and final round of the Sony Open in Honolulu on Sunday. He’s currently 65th (71-66-75-70–282), but could move up a few spots, depending how the guys out on the course play today.

I’m sure he was hoping for a better finish, especially after putting himself in contention to make some serious cash after shooting his second-round 66 on Friday. But it’s still a successful debut for the PGA Tour rookie. He survived the cut and will get his first PGA paycheck (still to be determined) and has to have a good feeling about next week’s Bob Hope Classic in La Quinta, Calif., his new hometown.

We’ll try to run Troy down later today and get his reaction to how the week went.

Here’s a statistical breakdown of his four rounds, courtesy of PGATour.com.

By now, most of you who care already know that Troy Kelly shot a 75 on Saturday. After talking to his father, Bob Kelly, it sounds like Troy drove in poorly. He blocked his first drive of the day, pushing it way right, and things never got a lot better.

Here’s the story that will be in Sunday’s paper.  Remember, you can follow his round by going to the PGATour.com site. He’s in a twosome with Tag Ridings, teeing off at 9:54 a.m. (7:54 a.m. in Hawaii).

Kitsap Sun Staff
Troy Kelly headed south on the leaderboard at the Sony Open on Saturday.
Way south.
The PGA Tour rookie followed his second-round 66 with a 5-over 75 to drop into a tie for 68th heading into today’s final round at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. He started the day tied for 16th.
Kelly’s 75 was the high score on the round and his 2-over 212 total left him ahead of just four golfers in the field of 78. He’s in a seven-way tie for 68th.
Kelly had bogeys on hole Nos. 1, 3 and 5, but righted himself momentarily with birdies on No. 9 and No. 10 (he’s birdied No. 10 all three days). That got him back to 1-over for the day. It would be his last birdie.
But not his last bogey. He also had bogeys on Nos. 11, 12, 14 and 16.
He pushed his first drive to the right, and continued to have problems off the tee all day, said his father, Bob Kelly.
“I don’t think he hit one fairway with driver,” he said.
Kelly found himself in fairway bunkers, pulled a shot into a water hazard, had to hit one shot backhanded from behind a tree after it hit a tournament spotter and the ball bounced behind a tree and another ball got tangled in some tree roots.
“So he had some bad breaks on top of not hitting it good,” Bob Kelly said. “And he was a little tight. He admitted it.”

Sounds as though Marvin Williams doesn’t have a concussion after all. He hit his head on the floor Friday night in a loss at Golden State. He’s listed as day to day.

Two rounds down, two rounds to go for Troy Kelly in his first PGA Tour event of the season.

He enters Saturday’s round tied for 16th after carding 71-66 in the Sony Open. I chatted with Troy last night. Here’s a link to the story. The lowest finisher in the field will earn $9,936, so Troy’s got a chance to put decent money in his pocket.  And for a tour rookie with his status, that’s huge.

After the seven tournaments on the western swing — Troy will play in the Bob Hope Classic at La Quinta, Calif., next week — the PGA reshuffles the order and it’s all based on money won. So if Troy has some success in the tournaments he gets in (he’s also got entry into the ATT&T at Pebble Beach, and has a shot to get in the Buick Open at Riviera in San Diego) it’s going to make his life a lot easier down the road.

Of the 53 golfers who got their cards through qualifyign school (28 counting ties) and Nationwide Tour (the top 25 from the 2008 season) are also rated. Troy’s number is No. 29. I’ve been told if he can get up to No. 10 or so, then he’s going to be able to get in about any tour event he wants.

Seventy eight players survived the cut (the number was 141). Amont those who missed the cut by a stroke: Bubba Watson, Jeff Sluman, Davis Love and Chris DiMarco.

The players will be in twosomes today and Sunday. Kelly’s paired with Kevin Na today and tees off at 2:06 p.m. (12:06 Hawaiian time). Na, from South Korean, played in 29 events a year ago. He had 3 Top 10 finishes and 3 other Top 25 finishes and won $1,041,059. That ranked him No. 93 on the money list. Na tied for fourth in the Sony Open a year ago.

The winner of the Sony earns $972,000.

Marvin Williams is having a tough run of lately. He’s battled through a shoulder injury. Tonight, he was knocked out early in a 119-114 loss to Golden State with a concussion. You can read more about that here.

Former Washington State University quarterback Jason Gesser will be the featured guest on the ISPN Sports Show Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.

Go to ispnsports.com to listen in live.

Troy Kelly is not only going to survive the cut at the Sony Open, he’s going to be among the leaders when he tees it up Saturday.

The Central Kitsap grad finished with a 4-under 66, moving him to 3-under for the tournament. He’s currently tied for 10th.

After an opening round 71 in which he had five bogeys and four birdies, Kelly had five birdies and one bogey. He ended his day by making a 2-foot birdie putt on No. 9 — a 509-yard, par 5.

He also ended the day in the rain. The wind was picking up and the rain was going sideways, which is a good thing for Kelly because the guys playing in the afternoon might have a tough time with the tropical storm that was rolling in.

For the record, Kelly birdied Nos. 10 and 17 on the back nine (he started on 10) and Nos. 3, 7 and 9 on the front side. His lone bogey was on No. 5. If he keeps that up, Kelly’s going to put himself in position for a mighty big payday.

Hopefully, we can connect with Troy later today. Look for updates here and a story in our print editions Saturday.

I’ve posted a couple of Troy Kelly updates on The Stark Truth, but the Wide World of Kitsap Sports is where we’re featuring local athletes who have made it to next level, so to speak.

A lot of people have gone on record as saying that the Central Kitsap grad has what it takes to do well on the PGA Tour, and the 30-year-old Kelly is proving them right. He just made a 23-foot birdie putt on No. 12 to move to 3-under for the day and 2-under for the tourament. He’s tied for 14th overall with six holes left today.

Here’s a link to a column I wrote earlier this week. Kelly’s former college coach at the UW, O.D. Vincent, and his agent, Rick Fehr, weigh in on Kelly’s chances for success.

Here’s my earlier posts on The Stark Truth. If you want to follow his round, shot-by-shot, make sure you click on the link provided.

UPDATE: 1:14 p.m. Kelly birdied No. 17 and made par on No. 18 for a 2-under 33. He’ s now 1-under for the tournament and tied for 26th. The projected cut number is +1.

FILED EARLIER:

Troy Kelly got off to a good start in his second round at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Playing the back nine first, he bombed his drive 315 yards on par-4 10th hole. It landed in a greenside bunker, but teh Central Kitsap grad blasted out of the sand and made an 18-foot putt for birdie.

That put Kelly at even for the touranment — he shot a 1-over 71 on Thursday. And he’s still even after four straight pars.

Today’s technology is truly remarkable. If you want to follow Kelly’s round, go to the PGA Tour’s web site. Click here and it’ll take you to the leaderboard. Find Troy Kelly (Currently tied for 42nd) and you can follow his round, shot by shot if you wish.

As a type this, Kelly’s playing the 15th hole at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.  You’ll stumble acorss up-to-date information like this:

Troy Kelly’s first round on the PGA Tour is complete. The CK product shot a 1-over-par 71 at the Sony Open in Hawaii on Thursday.