Keegan Bradley went from the last man in the BMW Championship to a winner Sunday, closing with an even-par 72 for a one-shot victory that opened up all sorts of possibilities he never imagined possible a week ago.
Bradley pulled away from mistake-prone Adam Scott early on the back nine and delivered a clutch shot into the par-5 17th that all but sealed the seventh victory of his PGA Tour career, and the most unlikely.
He was biting his nails a week ago, needing help just to finish at No. 50 in the FedEx Cup and qualify for the second postseason event. And then he managed the mile-high air, the wind and the Sunday pressure to win at Castle Pines.
“It just shows why you’ve got to grind it out because you never know how fast it can switch,” Bradley said on the 18th green, where he stood alongside his father. Mark Bradley, a longtime club professional, had never seen his 38-year-old son win in person.
The victory moved Bradley from No. 50 to No. 4 in the FedEx Cup, sending him to the Tour Championship where he will start four shots behind Scottie Scheffler in a 72-hole chase for the $25 million prize.
WATCH: Canada’s Taylor Pendrith qualifies for season-ending TOUR Championship:
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., places 25th on the Fedex Cup points list and qualifies for next week’s TOUR Championship after finishing tied for 13th at the BMW Championship.
Taylor Pendrith finished as top Canadian at 5-under to advance to next week’s final in the 27th spot, but compatriot Corey Conners will miss next week’s final after finishing at 4-under.
There’s also another cup in play. Bradley, the first Ryder Cup captain to win a PGA Tour event since Davis Love III nine years ago, moved to No. 10 in the Presidents Cup standings. The top six after the BMW Championship automatically qualified, and Jim Furyk gets six captain’s picks. Bradley will surely be in the conversation after winning for the third straight year.
Bradley heard plenty of “U-S-A! “U-S-A!”” chants as he went along the back nine at Castle Pines, the loudest coming on the 18th when thousands of spectators were allowed to encircle the green for the final touch of a big week.
Scott, a runner-up at the Scottish Open last month, was tied for the lead until starting the back nine with three soft bogeys, two of them with a wedge in his hand from the fairway. He birdied the closing par 5s, but lost a big chance when he overshot the 15th green from 101 yards.
He closed with a 72, though it also moved him into the top 30 who qualifying for East Lake.
Sam Burns finished with a Sunday-best 65, including a bogey on the par-5 14th, and shared second place with Scott and Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, who let another good chance get away with too many Sunday mistakes.
