Finally. After five full seasons without a win, Keegan Bradley has put it all together once again and reached the promised land at the 11th hour of the sixth. On a soggy, wet Monday in Pennsylvania, Keegan triumphed over Justin Rose on the first hole of the sudden death playoff to capture the 2018 BMW Championship and his 4th career PGA Tour victory. His last win came in 2012 at the World Golf Championship – Bridgestone Invitational.
With the nerves on high, Keegan hooked his drive left on 18. After blasting an amped-up long iron into the greenside grandstands Keegan received free relief, but was unable to get up and down for par. He posted a final total of 260, 20-under par, but looking up at the board, Keegan knew that Rose birdied 16 and 17 and only needed to par the 18th to lock up the championship. His fate was no longer in his own hands.
Bradley could be seen on the broadcast doing everything he could to remain calm and positive, but it was obvious he knew the outcome was not up to him anymore. At this point there was nothing he could do but watch and accept the outcome. That’s when Rose hit a low, heeled cut off the tee that left him well back in the fairway. Running a long iron up to the front of the green, Rose had a great chance with lift, clean and place for a chip and putt for par.
THAT CLOSE to a win for Justin Rose.
We're headed to a Rose v. Bradley playoff at the @BMWChamps. pic.twitter.com/9ukcHQUPYd
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) September 10, 2018
It is incredibly tough to recover and re-focus after such a tough break, and on-cue, in the first hole of sudden death Justin Rose missed a short putt that would have extended the playoff. Keegan tapped in his 2 foot putt and with that he was the champion.
The playoff defeat wasn’t all bad news for Rose. With his solo finish in second place he earned enough points to take over the World Golf Ranking #1 spot. He will be the Number One player in the world headed into the Tour Championship.
The victory rocketed Bradley up 46 spots to number 6 in the FedEx Cup standings and punched his ticket to East Lake and the Tour Championship. There are some notable names, like Jordan Spieth (31st in the standings) who will miss out on a trip to Atlanta and an opportunity to win the FedEx Cup. The rest of the FedEx Cup standings are as follows:
1. Bryson DeChambeau
2. Justin Rose
3. Tony Finau
4. Dustin Johnson
5. Justin Thomas
6. Keegan Bradley
7. Brooks Koepka
8. Bubba Watson
9. Billy Horschel
10. Cameron Smith
11. Webb Simpson
12. Jason Day
13. Francesco Molinari
14. Phil Mickelson
15. Patrick Reed
16. Patrick Cantlay
17. Rory McIlroy
18. Xander Schauffele
19. Tommy Fleetwood
20. Tiger Woods
21. Aaron Wise
22. Kevin Na
23. Rickie Fowler
24. Jon Rahm
25. Kyle Stanley
26. Paul Casey
27. Hideki Matsuyama
28. Gary Woodland
29. Marc Leishman
30. Patton Kizzire
The man who always wears Jordan brand golf shoes on the course, Keegan Bradley plays a mixed bag of clubs and this week found the winning combination.
WITB: Keegan Bradley’s Golf Clubs
Driver:TaylorMade M2 2016 (Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 6X shaft), 10 degrees
3 Wood:TaylorMade M4 HL (Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 7X shaft), 16.5 degrees
Hybrid:Callaway Apex (Project X EvenFlow Blue shaft), 20 degrees
Utility Iron:Srixon Z U45 (3-iron; Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120X shaft)
Irons:Srixon Z745 (4-9; Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120X shafts)
Wedge:Srixon Z945 (PW; Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120X shaft)
Wedge:Cleveland RTX-3 (52 degrees; True Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue S400 shaft)
Wedge:Cleveland RTX-4 (58 degrees; True Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue S400 shaft)
Putter:Odyssey Works 1W Armlock Prototype
Ball:Srixon Z-Star XV
Keith Schneider
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