CROMWELL, Conn. — Keegan Bradley hadn’t heard roars this loud for him since his Ryder Cup debut in 2012, especially when he walked up to the 18th green Sunday at TPC River Highlands and turned a one-shot deficit into a stunning one-shot victory over Tommy Fleetwood in the Travelers Championship.
On the one-year anniversary of Bradley accepting the job as Ryder Cup captain, he made the strongest case yet he should be bringing his clubs to New York’s Bethpage Black come September.
With equal parts grit and passion, the 39-year-old Vermont native rallied from a three-shot deficit with four holes to play with a 9-iron shot to six feet from the final hole, where he made the birdie putt and earn his second big victory in 10 months, this time while denying the ever-gracious Fleetwood his elusive first PGA Tour win.
Bradley now has more wins in the past year than any American except Scottie Scheffler, who has been No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for more than two years. Bradley is No. 9 in the Ryder Cup standings and a career-best No. 7 in the world.
“This changes the story a little bit,” Bradley said about his Ryder Cup role. “I never would have thought about playing if I hadn’t won. This definitely opens the door to play. I don’t know if I’m going to do it or not, but I certainly have to take a pretty hard look at what’s best for the team.”
Two birdies over the last four holes Sunday, including a 35-foot putt on the 15th that kept alive his hopes, sent Bradley to a 2-under-par 68 for a one-shot victory over Fleetwood (72) and Russell Henley, who chipped in across the 18th green for a birdie and a closing 69.
Bradley finished 72 holes at 15-under 265 and won $3.6 million for his first title in one of the PGA Tour’s signature events, which boast purses of $20 million, and this was the last chance this year. He also won the BMW Championship, the second event in the FedEx Cup playoffs, last August at Cherry Hills near Denver.
Henley called a one-shot penalty on himself in the second round when he saw his golf ball move the length of a dimple as he was playing a chip. He notified the rules staff, checked with them on the ruling and added one to his score for a penalty only he saw.
Baylor School graduate Harris English (65) boosted his Ryder Cup hopes by tying for fourth with Australia’s Jason Day (68) at 13 under.
Stephan Jaeger, a former Baylor and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout, closed with a 71 and finished at 3 under to tie for 34th in what wound up a final field of 67 players after three more withdrew Sunday from the no-cut tournament that started with 72.
Scheffler, who had a share of the 36-hole lead until a 72 in the third round, closed with a 65 and tied for sixth with second-ranked Rory McIlroy (65) of Northern Ireland at 12 under.
McIlroy, this year’s winner at The Players Championship and the Masters, and Scheffler, who won the PGA Championship last month, already have clinched spots on their respective Ryder Cup teams. Bradley is assured of being there, too, but still to be determined is what role he plays.
Bradley, who started the day three shots behind Fleetwood, never led until he rolled in the birdie putt before a delirious, sunbaked crowd rooting for New England’s favorite golf son at the only PGA Tour event currently held in the region.
It was crushing for Fleetwood, the 34-year-old Englishman who has seven wins on the Europe-based DP World Tour but is 0-for-84 in regular PGA Tour starts. He missed a pair of putts in the six-foot range twice over the last five holes. With a one-shot lead from the middle of the 18th fairway, he came up just short and took three putts from 50 feet away.
Fleetwood lost in a playoff before another home crowd — for the other guy — when Nick Taylor won the 2023 Canadian Open. This one stung even more considering it was in his hands.
“I’m upset now, I’m angry. When it calms down, look at the things that I did well, look at the things that I can learn from,” Fleetwood said.
“The most stupid thing to do and the worse thing to do would be make a week like this a hindrance to what you do going forward. Right now I would love to just go and sulk somewhere, and maybe I will. But there’s just no point making it a negative for the future.”
When asked on the 18th green if he should be playing in the Ryder Cup, Bradley said only, “Go USA!” He heard plenty of that on a sunbaked day with the heat index approaching triple digits, especially when he holed a 65-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole to stay in the mix.
Bradley was tied with Fleetwood, who bogeyed three of his first four holes, going to the back nine. The Englishman began to pull away with a pair of birdies, though, and was two shots clear when he hit a wedge shot to six feet on the 14th hole.
Bradley one-hopped his approach over the green into a plugged lie in the bunker, and all he could do was blast out to 40 feet and make a bogey. Yet he fell only three shots behind when Fleetwood missed the short birdie putt.
However, Bradley made the 35-foot birdie putt on the 15th. Fleetwood went long on the par-3 16th, chipped downhill some 20 feet by for a bogey to narrow the margin to one shot, and set the tone for the turnaround that gave Bradley his second Travelers Championship win in three years.
There were chants of “USA! USA!” after every big putt by Bradley on Sunday, especially the last one.
“Of all the shots and all the putts I hit,” he said, “I think I’m going to remember that one the most.”
M-Lee calm enough to win Women’s PGA
FRISCO, Texas — Minjee Lee went into the final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship with a four-stroke lead, and she took a glance at every leaderboard she saw on the course.
Even after some early bogeys, though, she stayed on top all day on way to her third major title.
“I knew exactly where I was in terms of, like, the scores, but I just want to be clear,” Lee said. “Like, I definitely was nervous starting the day. I wasn’t really sure if it was the heat that was making my heart beat more. … I looked calm, but not as calm as everybody thinks.”
Lee closed with a 2-over 74 while maintaining at least a two-stroke lead throughout the final round. Her 4-under 284 total for 72 holes was three strokes ahead of American player Auston Kim (68) and Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen (68), the only others to finish under par at wind-swept Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco.
Lee, a 29-year-old Australia native who is a Texas resident and lives in nearby Irving, got the 11th win of her LPGA Tour career. She’s now the third woman from Australia to win at least three majors, joining Karrie Webb (seven) and Jan Stephenson (three).
While Lee had three bogeys in a four-hole stretch midway through the front nine, playing partner Jeeno Thitikul, the world’s No. 2-ranked woman, bogeyed both par 5s that are among the first three holes. Still in search of her first major, Thitikul hit her first shot Sunday into the right rough on her way to a 75 to finish at 1 over, tied for fourth with Japan’s Chisato Iwai (71).
Lee, ranked 24th, took home $1.8 million of the record $12 million purse in the PGA of America-sanctioned event, which was up from $10.4 million a year ago and matched the USGA’s U.S. Women’s Open for the most prize money in women’s golf. She also got $1.8 million for her four-stroke win in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open.
Kim and Wannasaen had the best rounds of the day and matched the best of the tournament after only two 68s combined the first three rounds. Kim was bogey-free, but she had only pars after three consecutive birdies to wrap up her front nine.
Lee is the 16th player to win in 16 LPGA tournaments this year. Top-ranked Nelly Korda, who won seven times last year, isn’t one of those winners after a closing 76 left the 26-year-old American tied for 19th at 6-over 294.
Jimenez a three-time senior major champ
AKRON, Ohio — Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Kaulig Companies Championship for his fourth PGA Tour Champions victory of the season, rallying to force a playoff and beating Steven Alker with a 20-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole of the 50-and-older major championship formerly known as the Senior Players Championship.
Two strokes down after playing partner Alker birdied the par-5 16th, the 61-year-old Spaniard made a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 17th and an 18-footer on the par-4 18th.
“I knew I had to make birdie-birdie to have any chance.” Jimenez said. “I make birdie on the 17th, gives you wings to go to 18th, and then the rest is history.”
Tied for the lead entering the final round at Firestone Country Club’s South Course, Jimenez and Alker, a 53-year-old New Zealander, each shot a 2-under 68 to finish 72 holes at 10-under 270 and trigger the bonus golf.
Stewart Cink finished third at 8 under after a 66, while fellow American player Steve Flesch was another stroke back after a 65.
“It’s very special,” Jimenez said. “I win here and put my name beside of all the great names through the history of the golf tournaments here on this beautiful golf course, probably one of the better golf courses we’ll play all year. No words to explain, fantastic.”
Firestone South previously hosted the World Series of Golf and then a World Golf Championship.
Each playoff participant parred No. 18 on the first extra hole, with Jimenez missing an 18-foot birdie try and Alker holing a 3 1/2-footer to send it back to tee for a second extra hole. Before Jimenez’s winning putt, Alker missed a 20-foot birdie try after a recovery shot from the trees right of the fairway.
“He made the plays coming down the stretch,” Alker said.
Jimenez won the third senior major title of his career after taking both the Regions Tradition and the Senior British Open in 2018. With this one, he earned a spot next year in The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He now has 17 career victories on 50-and-older tour.
“Amazing that my game is still nice.” Jimenez said, “I still have a good distance from the tee, my irons are good, they’re sharp, and then still enjoy what I’m doing. That to me is perfect. The only thing is keep counting. I hope it’s not the last one.”
Jimenez beat Alker by two strokes in the Trophy Hassan II in February in Morocco, then won the Hoag Classic in March in Newport Beach, California, and the Principal Charity Classic in a playoff three weeks ago in Des Moines, Iowa.
The U.S. Senior Open, the fourth of five senior majors this year, begins Thursday in Colorado Springs.
Round of 59 sure doesn’t hurt
WICHITA, Kan. — Myles Creighton won the Wichita Open a day after shooting an 11-under 59, closing with a 68 for a one-stroke victory over Mexico’s Emilio Gonzalez (66).
The 29-year-old Canadian earned his second Korn Ferry Tour victory, finishing 72 holes at Crestview Country Club at 17-under 263. On Saturday, Creighton became the 15th player in the PGA Tour feeder circuit’s history to shoot a sub-60 round and the second of the week.
Belgium’s Adrien Dumont de Chassart, who had opened with a 59 for a four-stroke lead, closed with a 65 to tie for fifth at 13 under. A pair of American players finished immediately ahead of him, with Quade Cummins (71) fourth at 14 under and Pierceson Coody (69) third at 15 under.
American winner
SANDWICH, England — Oklahoma State junior Ethan Fang held off a late charge Saturday with a five-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 1-up victory over Ireland’s Gavin Tiernan, becoming the first American in 18 years to win the British Amateur Championship.
The match at Royal St. George’s was all square through 31 holes when Fang built a 2-up lead, Tiernan won the next two holes with big putts, and Fang won it on the 36th hole with an approach shot just five feet left of the hole.
Tiernan, a sophomore at East Tennessee State University, missed well to the left some 45 feet away and grazed the edge of the cup with his long birdie putt, setting the stage for Fang.
Fang, who grew up near Dallas and played his freshman year at California, earned a trip to the British Open next month at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland and gets into the Masters at Augusta National next year.
“Probably one of the longest days of golf I’ve ever played,” Fang said. “I just hit a really good shot on the last hole.”
Until Saturday, the most recent American winner of the British Am was Drew Weaver in 2007 at England’s Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
Tiernan led 1 up after the morning 18 holes, and neither player was ahead by more than one hole until late in the match. Fang two-putted for a birdie on the par-5 14th after Tiernan hit a poor pitch that left him some 30 feet short. Fang went 2 up when Tiernan got in trouble off the tee at the 15th and made a bogey.
The Irishman answered in stunning fashion, though, with a 30-foot birdie putt to win the hole on the par-3 16th, then a 15-foot birdie putt on the 17th to square the match again.
Fang held his nerve with two great shots to set up a birdie and change his summer plans.
He was already looking good for the Walker Cup against Great Britain and Ireland in September at Cypress Point Club in Pebble Beach, California, but this victory might be enough to seal a spot on the U.S. team for the No. 7 player in the world amateur ranking.
First up is another test of links golf at the 153rd British Open, which tees off July 17.
“Playing the Masters and Open Championship is going to be sweet,” Fang said. “I had signed up for a couple of amateur tournaments (this summer), but I think I’ll cancel that.”