Keegan Bradley was waiting in excruciating limbo, everything hanging in the balance, cooped up in his hotel room like some kind of stressed-out day trader.
A journey outside of Denver to the top-50 BMW Championship this as well as starts in all eight of the 2025 Signature Events were all that was in stock for him.
After shooting a 6-under 66 to take the early lead in the first round of the BMW Championship, Bradley commented, “I had the FedExCup standings, the coverage on, the featured holes, and my phone.I was really on fire.”
He said he endured “one of the toughest afternoons of his PGA TOUR career” on Sunday before finding out he had finished 50th in the FedExCup rankings and secured the final berth in the BMW Championship field. At Castle Pines on Thursday, he had everything going his way: six birdies, no bogeys, and a projected rise up to 4th place in the FedExCup standings.
“I was so much more at ease today. However, I performed incredibly well.”Bradley said.
As players vie for position ahead of next week’s TOUR Championship at East Lake, he was the greatest mover.
Bradley, who has six victories on the PGA TOUR, including the 2018 BMW Championship at Pennsylvania’s Aronimink Golf Club, has another motivation for wanting to finish in the top 50. He will be able to play for more points and prize money in the Signature Events next season, and he will also have the opportunity to be in closer quarters with the top American players.
For Bradley, who will lead the American Ryder Cup team in 2025 at Bethpage Black, that is no small matter. (Bradley will also be Jim Furyk’s assistant at the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal next month.)
”With the players and the Ryder Cup team, that’s where I want to be. I want to be in the locker room, in the tournament, on the range, and playing with them. It meant a lot to me to be listed among the top 50.”he added.
Bradley, who won two races the previous year, has only finished in the top ten this year. One was a T2 at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May, while the other was a playoff loss at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. Apart from his unexpected nomination to head the U.S. Ryder Cup team, he has been silent elsewhere.
Bradley made the most of the favorable conditions on Thursday at Castle Pines, hitting 12 of 14 fairways and 16 of 16 greens in regulation. At the par-4 13th hole, he made his longest birdie putt of 16 feet, and he birdied 3 of the 4 par 5 holes.
Bradley, with his rocket-like projection up the standings, is the latest reminder that you have to play to win and that a great conclusion to the season can make up for a lot, especially with FedExCup points quadrupling for the Playoffs.
In case you were wondering, neither Bradley nor his playing companion, FedExCup No. 49 Cam Davis (72), talked about the fact that it first seemed like neither player was going to Denver.
“No, we didn’t. None of that terrifying afternoon should be relived.”Bradley said.
