By Jacob Heid

Sports Editor

STEVENS POINT – Two of Wisconsin’s best senior golfers will tee it up at the U.S. Senior Open this week at SentryWorld in Stevens Point. 

Madison natives Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker go way back to their junior golf days and keep that competitive spirit with each other today.

“That’s the way it is with Strick and I. I consider us extremely close, best friends and families are very close,” Kelly said.

Kelly talked through how he uses that kind of bond to make him better on the golf course, no matter the event. 

“Some of the best fights are with your brother,” Kelly said as he addressed the media today. “If I see him moving up, I want to catch him. It makes us both better.”

Stricker agreed that the bond between the two of them is something special, despite not seeing a lot of each other when they are in the Madison area.

“We root for each other, and our kids grew up together,” he said. “We don’t probably hang out as much as we should at home, but when we do, we have a great time. That goes way back to junior golf days here at SentryWorld.”

Stricker, the 2019 U.S. Senior Open winner, enters the week by winning the first two majors of the 2023 Champions Tour season. He looks for No. 3 in his home state. 

For Kelly, he has yet to hoist the Francis D. Ouimet trophy in his career. 

He has finished in the top 10 four times at this event and holds two runner-up finishes.