Wisconsin's Kelly eagerly anticipating colder weekend

Former hockey player Jerry Kelly might be the only guy at Augusta not looking at the chilly forecast with dread. He's also using his hockey mentality of playing aggressively and emotionally to skate his way into prime contention after two rounds. 

By T.J. Auclair, PGATOUR.com Interactive Producer

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Typically, Jerry Kelly's M.O. is to be aggressive and emotional like hockey players, which makes sense seeing as he once was a hockey player.

Strangely, being a former hockey player could bode well for Kelly, whose 3-under-par 69 at the Masters on Friday put him at even par and near the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend. Augusta National might feel like the inside of an ice rink on Saturday with temperatures expected to hit a high of only 52 degrees and lows in the 20s at night. Aside from ice rinks, Kelly lives in Wisconsin, which isn't exactly south Florida when he's practicing in the winter months.

"Lace 'em up, boys," Kelly joked when he heard about the looming frigid temperatures.

"I can't tell you how many times I've practiced when it's been below freezing," he said. "I mean, that's a normal occurrence for me. A lot of times I'll have to hit from inside a trailer with heaters, but you always want to get out there on grass. You hit three balls and start to get frostbitten so you've got to go inside. So, I've definitely been used to it and prepared for it, but my body is getting a little bit old."

Kelly got his second round off to a blazing start with birdies on Nos. 2, 5, 7 and 8 to go out in 4-under-par 32.

He was steady throughout the back nine as well until suffering his lone bogey at No. 18, but that didn't shake his confidence.

"It was just solid iron shots, I'd say. I got the ball in the fairway a few more times than yesterday," said Kelly, describing his improvement after an opening 75 on Thursday. "I still didn't strike the driver as well as I would like, but I really set myself up for birdies with a couple of great iron shots."

With birdies hard to come by on an atypically firm and fast Augusta National, there are some surprising names not near the top of the leaderboard, such as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els. Kelly, whose best finish in his four Masters was a tie for 20th in 2002 and 2005, said he's not surprised, but wouldn't read deeply into it.

"Saves are almost, I'd say, more important than birdies around here -- it's dropping shots that gets you in trouble," he said. "Pars out here are fine. The birdies will come, but saves are nice.

"You can never count anybody out, around this place especially," Kelly added. "I don't think a lot of the top players have really seen a course like this that often, either. I was here for four years before missing last year and I had never played it firm and fast. So, it's been a long time since anybody has seen it play like this. I've been extremely patient, which is not my M.O., but it has to be around here, otherwise it's going to eat your lunch."

Kelly attributed his change in approach to the work he's been putting into his game from a mental standpoint with 1976 Olympic rifle-shooting gold medalist Lanny Bassham.

Bassham competed in the 1972 Olympics in Munich and failed to take home the gold, instead settling for silver because of what he described as a mental failure. From that point forward, Bassham interviewed Olympic gold medalists to try and learn what they were doing to win. That, Kelly explained, led to Bassham's gold in 1976.

Today, Bassham is helping people from shooting, to golf, to beauty pageants with their mental approach. In fact, he's even worked with Fred Funk, who is a winner on both the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour in 2007.

"I went and saw him [Bassham] Thursday and Friday right before this tournament," Kelly said. "My problem is always having an active mind and that's exactly what he's helping me with. Especially when you get on a place like this, if you're thinking about too many things, you?re done. He?s given me a clear focus on the process and it's worked right away."

So is Kelly talking to Bassham every night?

"I'm supposed to be, but I'm not," he laughed. "Can't jump into this thing too deep."