[PHOTO: Atsushi Tomura]
Of all the shots and all the drama surrounding Tiger Woods’ historic victory at the 2019 Zozo Championship – the one that tied him with Sam Snead for the most wins in PGA Tour history – Keegan Bradley remembered the walk.
Bradley was fortunate enough, and played beautifully enough, to be in the cauldron with Woods during both weekend rounds at Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan. He drew on that experience a lot today while in contention again at the Zozo. “Just kind of remembering Tiger and how he walked a little slower than I noticed in the past,’ Bradley said, “and I tried to do that.”
That is not an easy task for a golfer who is as kenetic and fidgety as they come, but this was Bradley digging at his deepest to seize one of those opportunities that haven’t come around nearly as often as he’d hoped.
Having overcome a one-shot deficit to Rickie Fowler to start the day, Bradley led Andrew Putnam by one stroke with three holes to play, only to be horrified by a cold shank out of a greenside bunker at the 16th to bogey and fall into a tie.
Uh oh. The pressure of going 1,498 days without a victory was looking like it may crush the 36-year-old American. But Bradley responded the way his closest competitors and group mates, Fowler and Putnam, did not. He laced a drive down the 17th fairway, hit a wedge approach to 15 feet and made the birdie putt that provided the winning margin in his fifth career tour victory.
With a closing two-under-par 68, Bradley finished at 15-under, and though the final tally will show that he beat Putnam (68) and Fowler (70) by a single stroke, Bradley was able to enjoy that slow walk up the 18th hole with a two-shot lead before tapping in his par after the other two made birdies.
Bradley exalted by raising both arms high, and while leaving the green he promised his friend and caddie, Scott Vail, a night of steak and sake.
“I’ve been crying since I finished. I can’t remember the last time I cried,” Bradley told reporters in the aftermath. “I talked to my wife [Jillian] on the phone a second ago, FaceTime. I can’t keep it together. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
Attribute part of the emotions, Bradley said, to him earning his first win as the dad to his son, Logan, while the family was back home. But there was obviously some relief from all the pressure that built up since Bradley’s last victory in the 2018 BMW Championship. He once seemed destined for a career of wins in the double digits after he captured the 2011 PGA Championship in his first Major start. But though Bradley has had an admirably consistent career, those who win Majors and play in Ryder Cups expect far more than four victories by their mid-30s. Before today, Bradley had lifted a trophy just once in the past 10 years.
“There’s a lot of hard work that goes into it,” Bradley said. “Even if you play perfectly, doesn’t mean you’re going to win. But for me, I feel like I should be contending for tournaments, I want to be contending to play on Ryder Cup, Presidents Cups teams, Majors. You know, this is going to go a long way.”
Bradley seemingly took control of the tournament early on Sunday when he birdied the par-3 fifth from 45 feet and backed that up with a short birdie at the sixth. He made another birdie at 11, and by the time he reached the 14th tee, Bradley had played 30 holes without a bogey while shooting eight-under. At that point, he had a two-shot lead over Fowler and Putnam.
But Bradley made a sloppy bogey at the 14th after a missed green and poor pitch, and after a tremendous up-and-down for par from a greenside bunker at 15, he found a bunker with his tee shot on the par-3 16th. From there, Bradley badly bladed the sand shot to more than 40 feet beyond the hole, and when he made bogey he was tied with Putnam.
“Well, 16 was bizarre,” Bradley said. “I’ve never done that, I don’t think, ever. I shanked one out of the bunker. But I stayed really calm.”
At that point, Putnam hadn’t circled a number since birdies at holes one and three, but shared the lead. By missing a five-foot par putt at 15 and catching only the lip with a birdie putt of similar length at the 16th, Fowler was two behind. He hadn’t made a birdie since the seventh hole.
The turning point came at the par-4 17th where Bradley gave himself a good look at birdie after Putnam’s approach sailed long and Fowler mishit a 9-iron that settled about 40 feet from the pin. Bradley’s putt looked like it might stay out before breaking hard inches from the cup and going in.
“That birdie on 17 goes down as one of the best holes of my life,” Bradley said.
As thrilled as Bradley was, there was palpable disappointment for the 33-year-old Putnam, who was trying for his second career win and first since 2018, and Fowler, whose fifth and most recent victory came in February 2019. In building a 54-hole lead, Fowler expressed confidence in the swing changes he’d made in recent months after reuniting with coach Butch Harmon. But the swing didn’t hold up as well in the rigours of Sunday, with Fowler giving himself few good looks at birdie. And then he missed the two very makeable putts down the stretch.
With pre-tournament favourite and local hero Hideki Matsuyama out of contention and en route to finishing T-40, Fowler was the clear gallery choice for cheering interests, with a good number of orange Puma hats visible in the large crowd.
“Yeah, kind of bittersweet,” Fowler said. “Obviously wanted to get the job done and I felt very good going into today. Felt, you know, probably as good as you can feel out there. Final round, haven’t been there a whole lot in the past couple years, really just didn’t give myself many opportunities until the end. And I hit some darn good putts that it was like there was a cover over the hole. Gave it our all, left it all out there.”
Fowler was headed home knowing that there may be more contending opportunities coming up in the new year, while Bradley was simply happy to be focused on the evening ahead. The plans were to get dinner in Narita and then catch his beloved New England Patriots at Cleveland. Kickoff was set for 2am, Japan time. “Could be a long night,” Bradley reasoned.
It should be when the celebration is four years in the making.
