Keegan Bradley
United States

  • Full name Keegan Bradley
  • Birth date June 7, 1986
  • Birth place Woodstock
  • Current age 37 years 286 days
  • Height 6 ft 2 in
Keegan Bradley with the Wanamaker Trophy
Profile

The son of a PGA professional and the nephew of one of the greatest female golfers ever to play the game, it was perhaps inevitable Keegan Bradley would move into the family business.

A good, if not quite outstanding junior and college golfer, the Vermont-born Bradley initially struggled to make an impact after turning professional, winning a couple of minor events on the satellite tours but failing to make a real impression on leaderboards as he moved up in standard.

He failed to earn his card for the 2010 PGA Tour season, but subsequently excelled in the second-tier Nationwide Tour and earned his playing privileges for the 2011 campaign by virtue of an impressive run of top-five finishes to end his season just inside the top 15 on the money list.

A rookie on the PGA Tour at 25, Bradley made a near immediate impact - claiming the prestigious Byron Nelson Classic in a play-off against Ryan Palmer in May. That would have constituted a successful season for most players, let alone rookies, but Bradley was to go better than that in the final major of the season.

Playing in his first ever major championship, Bradley brought himself into contention over the first three days and then moved to the front in the final round - overcoming a potentially disastrous triple-bogey at the 15th hole to birdie his next two and force a play-off with the faltering Jason Dufner.

That he would go on to win after finding a birdie at the first hole and making par on the next two, completing a memorable rise into the game's upper echelons.

In 2012 Bradley joined the elite band of 11 men to have won both a major and a World Golf Championship with victory Bridgestone Invitational, benefiting from Jim Furyk's disastrous final hole. Having started the day four strokes clear of Bradley he reached the last with a one-stroke lead, but Bradley applied the pressure with a 15-foot putt for par and Furyk double-bogeyed to hand him the title.

Bradley played in his first Ryder Cup for the United States at Medinah, winning three points out of three alongside Phil Mickelson before going down 2&1 to Rory McIlroy as Europe roared back to win on the final day. McIlroy famously almost missed his tee time after confusion over the time zone in Chicago.

Career high: Winning the 2011 US PGA Championship - in the process becoming only the third player since 1913 to win in his first ever major appearance - elevated Bradley in golf's hierarchy and rounded out a fantastic first season on the PGA Tour.

Career low: Missing out on a 2010 tour card at PGA Tour qualifying school at the tail end of 2009 forced Bradley to re-evaluate where his career was heading.

Quote: "Ever since I was ten years old, I've kind of flown under the radar, I guess you could say. I had what I thought was a pretty good college career. I never really got noticed. Same in junior golf and kind of the same out here.

"I've been having a good year, and that's just the way it happens with me, which is fine. I was happy with it. I've always wanted to win tournaments and win majors, and I can't believe this thing [the Wanamaker Trophy] is sitting next to me. It's an honor to be even thought of in that category."

Trivia: The son of a PGA Tour professional, Bradley is the nephew of LPGA Hall of Fame member Pat Bradley - who won the career grand slam during an illustrious professional career

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Sang Moon Bae watches his tee shot

May 18, 2013

Keegan Bradley plays a chip shot

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Keegan Bradley watches his tee-shot

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