By Canadian Press

Bradley goes from last in to BMW Championship winner and on to East Lake

Aug 26, 2024 | 10:11 AM

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (AP) — The BMW Championship was one tournament Keegan Bradley never thought he could win, only because he didn’t think he would be playing.

Bradley was a bundle of nerves one week ago Sunday as he sat in a hotel room in Tennessee with his bags packed and his season seemingly over. And then he squeezed into the 50th spot in FedEx Cup in the final hour, the last man in Castle Pines for the next playoff event.

From biting his nails in Memphis to holding a trophy in Denver. What a week.

“I can’t even wrap my head around it,” Bradley said after an even-par 72 gave him a one-shot victory over Adam Scott, Sam Burns and Ludvig Aberg.

He doesn’t have much time to let his seventh career PGA Tour victory sink in. This created possibilities Bradley never imagined a week ago.

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He heads to Atlanta for the Tour Championship at East Lake, where Bradley — who went from No. 50 to No. 4 in the standings — will start four shots behind Scottie Scheffler at East Lake with a reasonable chance of winning the FedEx Cup and its $25 million prize.

And that’s not the only cup in play.

Bradley became the first Ryder Cup captain — he was appointed U.S. skipper just over six weeks ago — to win a PGA Tour event in nine years. He is an assistant captain for the Presidents Cup next month in Montreal.

The BMW title moved him to No. 10 in the Presidents Cup standings. Only the top six automatically qualified Sunday, but Bradley is certain to be under serious consideration when Jim Furyk makes his six captain’s picks after the Tour Championship.

“I don’t know where that’s going to go, but I’m happy to play whatever role they want me to play,” the 38-year-old Bradley said. “I hope I didn’t throw a huge wrench in everybody’s plans, but I’m proud to be in consideration.”

Consideration came from winning, and this a rock-solid performance in the mile-high air and in wind that left several players guessing how far the golf ball was flying.

Bradley had some help from the Scott, who was tied for the lead until starting the back nine with three soft bogeys, all with a wedge in his hand. He missed par putts of seven feet, six feet and eight feet to fall three shots behind. But it was the approach shots that hurt him.

“Ten, 11, 12 kind of blew it for me there,” Scott said after his 72. “I was in position with wedges on every hole and made three bogeys. That’s almost unthinkable, really.”

Burns had a Sunday-best 65, nearly holing a bunker shot on the 18th. Aberg was in position to close the gap until posing over a 6-iron into the par-5 14th right up until it splashed down, leading to a bogey from which he couldn’t quite recover. He closed with a 71.

Bradley, who finished at 12-under 276, effectively sealed it with a 5-iron from 227 yards in which he took dead aim behind two bunkers to a back left pin and watched it settle on the firm green 16 feet away, the closest anyone was all day.

“As pure a golf shot as I’ve ever hit,” Bradley said.

He two-putted for birdie and a two-shot lead, allowing him a cushion and time to soak up chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” from thousands who encircled the 18th green and paid tribute to the Ryder Cup captain for the 2025 matches. Bradley got a lot of those cheers this week.

Scott’s last chance really ended on the 15th. Bradley was in deep trouble in a back bunker, forcing him to play some 25 feet away from the pin. Scott was in the fairway, 101 yards from the pin, and his wedge sailed the green into deep rough. They wound up with matching bogeys.

The consolation for Scott was moving into the top 30 who qualify for East Lake.

Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., finished in a tie for 13th at 5 under, seven shots behind the winner. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., finished tied for 22nd at 4 under. And Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., ended up tied for 41st at 3 over.

Justin Thomas somehow made it to East Lake for the Tour Championship, even though he was already home in Florida in the same nail-biting spot as Bradley was a week ago.

Thomas needed plenty of help to get the 30th spot, and it came from former British Open champion Brian Harman and Alex Noren. Harman needed a par on the last hole to stay in the top 30 and made double bogey.

Noren, who has never made it to East Lake, was poised to finish in the top 30 when he holed a 25-foot par putt on the 13th hole and made birdie on the 14th. But he finished with three straight bogeys, the most damaging on the par-5 17th, the easiest hole at Castle Pines. He had to lay up from a drive in the rough and hit wedge into a bunker. He shot 75.

Bradley earned $4 million for his second title in the BMW Championship, also winning at Aronimink in 2018 when he was the No. 52 seed in what was then a 70-man field.

Bradley and Scott joined Tommy Fleetwood (69) and Chris Kirk (69) who moved into the top 30 to qualifying for the Tour Championship. They bumped out Harman, Jason Day, Davis Thompson and Denny McCarthy.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press