Atlanta, GA, United States
He used to be known as Hall of Famer Pat Bradley's nephew. Now he will be known as the 2011 PGA Champion.
Keegan Bradley is a rookie on the PGA Tour but now he is a history-making major champion.
Bradley, who was tied after 72 holes of regulation play Sunday at the 93rd PGA Championship with Jason Dufner, won in a three-hole playoff. Both finished at 8-under-par 272 through 72 holes.
The 25-year-old son of a PGA professional had to pick himself up after a triple-bogey at the 15th hole to finish with birdies at the 16th and 17th then a par at the difficult 18th to post his score at the difficult Highlands course at the Atlanta Athletic Club.
Dufner collapsed down the stretch. When Bradley walked off that 15th green, Dufner was five shots ahead, but he would bogey 15 then 16 then 17 and scratched out a par at the final hole to tie Bradley.
For the second straight year, the championship went to its three-hole aggregate playoff.
The deciding shots were at the 16th, the first hole of the playoff. Dufner hit a 5-iron from 190 yards and nearly holed it for an eagle but it slipped just seven feet past the cup. Bradley answered with an 8-iron from 160 yards that stopped inside five feet.
Then the championship-deciding swing came. Dufner pulled his putt, made par and Bradley holed his for birdie.
Dufner put himself in a real hole when he three-putted the par-3 17th from 60 feet for bogey while Bradley made par. At 18, Dufner trailed by two but holed a 19-footer for birdie. It was too late. Bradley calmly two-putted from just inside him to take the Wannamaker Trophy as the winner of the season's final major.
"Those are just tough holes," Dufner said as he recalled his bogey-bogey-bogey-par finish that cost him a first-ever win. "Playing them in three-over coming in was disappointing."
Bradley was simply elated and he should have been. At the 15th, he missed the green right in regulation then watched in horror as his chip hit the green and kept rolling all the way to the pond fronting the green. From the drop zone he hit a wedge to 12 feet but missed and made six.
He fought back with an 8-iron approach at 16 to eight feet and made that birdie putt then made a 40-foot bomb at 17 that got him back to 8-under. He nearly made a final birdie at 18 from 50 feet but was happy to tap in for an easy par.
He kept that momentum to take the playoff and score a shocking win.
In the process, he became the third player in golf history to win a major championship when playing in one for the first time, following Francis Ouimet, who stunned the best professionals to win the 1913 U.S. Open then Ben Curtis became the second when he won the 2003 Open championship.
"I can't believe it!" Bradley exclaimed as he hoisted the huge silver trophy. "My dad Mark is a PGA professional and this will be very special to him."
Bradley also became the first player to win a major using a non-standard length putter. He uses a longer putter that reaches his stomach.
It was Bradley's second win this season. He won the Byron Nelson earlier this year and he won a playoff for that title in Dallas.
For Dufner, it was his second playoff loss of 2011, as he finished runnerup in Phoenix.
Bradley's win ended a run of six straight major championships won by international players. Phil Mickelson was the last American major winner at the 2010 Masters.
There was a back-nine run by two Europeans in the final round. Sweden's Robert Karlsson got to 8-under par but bogeyed the final three holes to finish at 5-under par. Denmark's Anders Hansen closed with a 66 but a bogey at the 16th hole cost him a spot in the playoff. He finished by at 7-under par 273.
Karlsson's 67 put him with David Toms and Scott Verplank, who tied him at 5-under.
Australian Adam Scott finished alone at 4-under-par 68.
This was Bradley's day, the day when he stepped from the high level of PGA Tour winner to the highest level of major champion.
Twitter: @ihavenet
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