BMW Championship: Keegan Bradley, the last man in the field, wins in Colorado

BMW Championship: Keegan Bradley, the last man in the field, wins in Colorado

CASTLE ROCK, COLORADO – AUGUST 24: Keegan Bradley celebrates with a fist pump after making a birdie putt on the green of the 18th hole as fans cheer during the third round of the BMW Championship, the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs, at Castle Pines Golf Club on August 24, 2024 in Castle Rock, Colorado. (Photo by Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

Keegan Bradley, the United States’ new Ryder Cup captain, will play in the Tour Championship next week in Atlanta. (Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour via Getty Images)

Keegan Bradley was the last man in the field in Colorado this week.

This obviously didn’t bother him at all.

Bradley, who began the week ranked 50th in the FedEx Cup standings, beat Adam Scott to win the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club outside Denver on Sunday afternoon. It was his first victory of the season and he moved up an incredible 46 spots in the standings – earning him a spot in next week’s Tour Championship to complete the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Bradley finished Sunday’s match with a par 72, dropping him to 13 under par for the week. He is now the first active U.S. Ryder Cup captain to win on the PGA Tour since Davis Love III did so in 2015. The only other golfer to do so was Jack Nicklaus. He will also move up to 11th in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Despite making eight birdies on Saturday, including three in a row on the first nine holes, Bradley only managed a 2-under-par 70 in his third round, putting him one stroke ahead of the field. Almost everyone beat him on Moving Day, too. Only eight golfers in the 50-man field managed under 70 strokes in the third round.

Bradley then basically held on all day on Sunday. He began his final round with a birdie after drilling his approach shot on the par-5 1st hole. However, Scott sank a deep eagle putt on the first hole to keep pace with Bradley – which he managed until the turn. While Bradley made 11 straight pars, Scott eventually slipped. He made three consecutive bogeys early on his back nine after repeatedly getting into trouble around the greens, which put him three shots behind and effectively took him out of contention.

Bradley’s par streak finally ended on the 15th hole after his approach shot got stuck in the greenside bunker, giving him his first bogey in 16 holes. Scott also made a bogey there after missing a putt from less than five feet away.

While Ludvig Åberg put pressure on the 17th hole with a birdie, Bradley narrowly missed the par 5 with an eagle putt. This left him with a tap-in birdie and he was able to extend his lead to two holes again.

Bradley, who marched to the 18th green to loud shouts of “USA” from the crowd, then needed three putts on the final hole and made a bogey, securing his even par 72 and the win.

Åberg, Scott and Sam Burns – who shot a seven-under-par 65 for the day’s round – finished the week in second place at 11 under par, three strokes ahead of the fifth-place group that also included Xander Schauffele and Cam Davis.

Bradley has now won seven times on the PGA Tour in his career. He has two runner-up finishes this season, including a playoff loss at the Sony Open in January, and tied for 18th at the PGA Championship – his best finish in a major this season.

Despite finishing in the bottom half of the leaderboard this week with a 1-over-par stroke average, Scottie Scheffler will still enter the Tour Championship as the No. 1 overall player. Scheffler, who has won six times this season, leads the field in the FedEx Cup standings by more than 1,000 points. Xander Schauffele, who won both the PGA Championship and the British Open this year, is safely in second place. , will finish third at East Lake if he is able to play.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.

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