Bradenton’s Sean Kelly calls first tee shot in PGA Tour debut “nerve-wracking”

The email came randomly, and professional golfer Sean Kelly decided he’d follow up.

Kelly, a Saint Stephen’s and University of South Carolina alumnus, was playing a mini-tour event in North Carolina.

The Northern Texas PGA section had Kelly on its mailing list to send information about the qualifiers for the PGA Tour’s AT&T Byron Nelson.

So Kelly got with former college teammate Will Murphy to head to Texas.

Kelly advanced from the pre-qualifier, then Monday qualified into last week’s PGA Tour event in the Dallas area.

“It took awhile for it to sink in after I actually did it,” Kelly said.

Kelly missed the cut, but began charging with two birdies on the first two holes. The difficult aspect was the opening tee shot as Kelly, who has played in the U.S. Amateur before, never played in front of a crowd as large as what was at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

“The first tee shot was really nerve-wracking,” Kelly said.

Kelly, who is a native of Staten Island, N.Y., played his high school golf at Saint Stephen’s.

From there, he embarked on a college golf career that wrapped up in 2016 at South Carolina.

Prior to finishing his senior season, Kelly participated in Q-School for the Canadian PGA Tour. He passed the test and leaves for Vancouver to begin the 2017 season on Sunday.

But before he heads there, he soaked up his time at the AT&T Byron Nelson, where he used PGA Tour player Troy Merritt’s caddie, Scott Sajtinac.

“I walked off the first tee and said to my caddie, ‘Alright, that was a little nerve-wracking,’ ” Kelly said. “And he said, ‘It always should be.’ ”

Kelly’s road to the AT&T Byron Nelson took a bump in January after he began working with swing instructor Martin Hall, who has appeared on The Golf Channel several times, that saw a grip change from a looser interlocking grip to a more compact one.

Kelly suffered an injury, where he had two stress fractures in his right hand that put him on the shelf for three months.

Unable to practice, Kelly took a temporary job driving for Island Limousine, which is based on Anna Maria Island.

“I had a long summer and then into Q-School still playing until December, so I didn’t have much of a break,” Kelly said. “So it kind of worked out OK.”

Kelly’s hand eventually strengthened, and he began practicing again. Working on his game at Lakewood Ranch’s Legacy Golf Club with the Missing Link Golf Academy, Kelly gained competitive experience on the West Florida Golf Tour.

But once that tour went on hiatus for May, Kelly ventured north to play more competitive golf.

Playing a GProTour tournament, Kelly saw the chance to qualify for the AT&T Byron Nelson. He came down to Florida to get through local qualifying for the U.S. Open first, then flew to Dallas to stay with some friends as he prepared for the Byron Nelson qualifying.

Playing the pre-qualifier, Kelly was 2-over par through eight holes when a rain delay entered the mix.

“I wasn’t playing real well, so it kind of gave me a little breather,” Kelly said. “I was like, ‘All right, I know what I have to do now. Just go out and do it.’ ”

Kelly fought his way through that pre-qualifier, then lit up the Monday qualifier to make his PGA Tour debut.

“Playing those, you have to put the pedal to the metal right from the start,” said Kelly, who qualified with a 67.

Despite missing the cut, Kelly said he felt really at home playing the PGA Tour event after his opening tee shot erased any jitters.

Now he’s turning his attention to the Canadian PGA Tour and the U.S. Open sectional qualifier, which he’ll do June 5 in Seattle.

This story was originally published May 24, 2017 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Bradenton’s Sean Kelly calls first tee shot in PGA Tour debut “nerve-wracking”."