INZAI CITY, Japan — It was worth a trip around the world for Keegan Bradley, who won the Zozo Championship on Sunday with a final round of 2-under-par 68 to finish one shot ahead of fellow American golfers Rickie Fowler and Andrew Putnam for his first PGA Tour win in just more than four years.
Bradley raised both arms to the sky and was tearing up after clinching with a tap-in on the 18th. Thirty minutes later, he was still choking back tears.
"I've been crying since I finished," the 36-year-old said after his fifth PGA Tour career win. "I can't remember the last time I cried."
He said he talked to his wife Jillian and his mother Kaye in the United States on FaceTime after securing the long-sought victory.
"I couldn't keep things together. I don't know what's wrong with me," said Bradley, who won the 2011 PGA Championship for a fast start to his career.
He finished at 15-under 265 in 72 holes at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on the outskirts of Tokyo, which hosts the only PGA Tour event in Japan. He bogeyed two of the last five holes, but he dropped a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th to give him a two-shot lead going into the 18th ahead of playing partners Fowler (70) and Putnam (68).
"I realized if I made this putt I'd have a two-shot lead," he said. "And I just buried it. The perfect putt. It was meant to be, and I'm proud of the way I handled that hole."
The birdie followed a bogey at 16 where he shanked a shot from the greenside bunker but still got down with two putts to share the lead with Putnam and leave Fowler one shot back.
Fowler also has not won on the tour for more than three years, and Putnam is winless in four.
Luke List (72) tied for 29th at 5 under, and fellow Baylor School graduate Stephan Jaeger (70) was two shots further back and shared 40th.
Koepka takes playoff for LIV victory
KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia — Brooks Koepka holed his birdie putt on the third playoff hole to win the LIV Golf Invitational-Jeddah and finish off his first victory on the new circuit.
Little could separate Koepka from close friend and American compatriot Peter Uihlein all weekend at Royal Greens, and they matched each other birdie for birdie on the first two playoff holes. Koepka prevailed after Uihlein's third shot from the sand went into the water while Koepka hit a textbook shot before making the putt to seal his first victory since February 2021.
Koepka, a former No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking and a four-time major winner, was emotional afterward as the 32-year-old revealed he had feared for his career while battling injury.
"The last two years haven't been fun. It's been a long road," Koepka said. "I didn't know if my career was over for a half-second. So it's nice to be able to come back and be able to win."
Koepka had led after the opening round at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City but was overtaken by Uihlein on Saturday. They were in a four-way tie for the lead at the final hole Sunday, but both birdied to head into the playoff and leave Chile's Joaquin Niemann (65) and Spain's Sergio Garcia (68) a shot behind.
Koepka had a 1-under-69, and Uihlein had a 70 as they finished at 12-under 198 in the 54-hole event.
It was the seventh and final tournament for individual and team play in LIV's inaugural season. The last event will be in Miami in two weeks for four-man teams.
Couples wins with 60
CARY, N.C. — Fred Couples outshot his age by three strokes with the lowest round of his PGA Tour Champions career, a 12-under 60 that sent him to a six-shot victory in the SAS Championship for his first title in more than five years.
Couples was two shots out of the lead after four holes in the final round when the 63-year-old went on a run that amazed even him. He ran off five straight birdies, made a key par on the 10th hole and then finished with seven straight birdies.
"An unreal day," said Couples, who won for the first time since the American Family Insurance Championship in 2017.
This was one he never saw coming after he started the tournament with a double bogey, but for all the birdies, Couples felt the key to his day was a par.
He was two shots ahead of Jerry Kelly when he holed an 18-foot par putt. Kelly closed the gap to one with a birdie on the par-3 11th, and then Couples took off. Kelly put his second shot on the par-5 12th in the water, while Couples two-putted for birdie.
Couples made an eight-foot birdie on the next hole, an 18-footer on the 14th and then saw his shot from rough narrowly clear the bunker and take a big hop onto the green to five feet. It never stopped, even on the last hole when his approach rolled out to seven feet.
Couples finished at 20-under 196 for his 14th career win on the 50-and-older tour. He won 15 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1992 Masters.
Steven Alker closed with a 64 to finish second and extend his lead in the Charles Schwab Cup standings going into the 72-player postseason. Kelly (67) wound up third.
Otaegui sets record
SOTOGRANDE, Spain — Adrián Otaegui cruised in the final round to win the Andalucia Masters by six shots, with the 29-year-old Spaniard securing his fourth DP World Tour victory but the first in his home country.
Otaegui had four birdies and one bogey in a 3-under 68 for a 72-hole score of 19-under 265, breaking the scoring record at Real Club Valderrama — "my favorite golf course in Spain," he said later — by seven shots as he won for the first time in two years.
Sweden's Joakim Lagergren (68) was second, three shots ahead of Australia's Min Woo Lee of Australia (70).
Otaegui entered the final round with a six-shot lead.
"I just tried to play my game," he said. "Just tried to beat the others, just tried to stay focused and play every single hole with the same intensity. That was the goal today."