Bradley ends six-year drought with win
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA. Keegan Bradley held off Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to win the rain-plagued BMW Championship on Monday for his first PGA Tour victory in six years.
Though Rose was runner-up at the FedEx Cup playoff event at Aronimink, he didn’t come up short in the world ranking. Rose hit No. 1 in the world and became the 22nd player to reach the top spot since the ranking began in 1986.
Bradley, who shot a final round 6-under 64 to finish at 20-under par, thrust his arms toward the grey sky and drizzle in celebration and waved his family onto the 18th hole. He tossed his young son Logan — who hadn’t even been born in 2012, the last time Bradley won on the tour — into the air.
“A lot has happened to me over these six years,” Bradley said.
“I kind of fell of the radar there for a little while. It’s tough to go from being on Ryder Cup teams, being on Presidents Cup teams to being outside the top 100 in the world.”
Tiger Woods shot a 65 and finished in a tie for sixth at 17 under.
Abbotsford, B.C.’s Adam Hadwin shot a 67 Monday to finish at 12 under, tied for 19th.
Bradley, 32, finished with his fourth career victory and first since the 2012 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He gets a trip to Maui to start next year for the winnersonly Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Rose could have won in regulation, but lipped out on the last hole to force the playoff.
He fell short again in the playoff, missing a five-foot par putt that would have kept him alive. The 38-year-old Rose had grown to love the suburban Philadelphia golf courses. He won the 2010 AT&T National at Aronimink and the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion.
He didn’t get a trophy on this trip. But a No. 1 ranking will do. Rose, who overtook Dustin Johnson, joins Nick Faldo, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald as the only Englishmen to reach No. 1.
“I’m delighted to be world No. 1,” Rose said. “Boyhood dreams, you know what I mean?”