Associated Press4 minutes of reading
Keegan Bradley wins Under-23 Travelers Championship
Keegan Bradley dropped his final shot at the Travelers Championship to claim his sixth PGA Tour victory.
Cromwell, Conn — Keegan Bradley built up enough of a lead in front of adoring New England fans that he broke the tournament record at the Travelers Championship.
Bradley went 62-63-64 through the first three rounds to finish at TPC River Highlands with a 23-under 257, bettering the previous record set by Kenny Perry in 2009.
As fans chanted his name, the 37-year-old shouted as he walked to his ball on the 18th green, sank a 2-foot par putt and threw his arms in the air. He finished 3 strokes ahead of Jack Blair, who shot a 62, and Brian Harman, who finished with a 64.
“It’s for all the kids who grew up in New England and had to endure the winter and watch other people play golf,” said Bradley, who was born in Vermont and lived in Massachusetts. I am very proud to have won this competition.
Bradley had just one bogey for the week before dropping 3 shots in his final six holes as he said he wanted to win a PGA Tour event. It was his sixth tour win and second this season; He won the Zozo Championship in Japan in October.
Bradley birdied the par-4 12th hole to move to 5-under on the day to take a 6-shot lead. But he clipped his tee shot into the water on the next hole, leading to a bogey. He also bogeyed the 14th and 16th holes.
He settled for a par on the 17th, but guaranteed a winning walk to the last hole.
“I played really well until the last, like five or six holes, and luckily I had a big enough lead to beach home,” Bradley said.
He became the first New Englander to win the title since Connecticut’s JJ Henry in 2006.
Blair had his best finish on tour. The 32-year-old from Utah is playing on a major medical exemption after missing nearly two years with a torn labrum.
“Basically, I’ve been playing 18 or 36 shots every day for the last seven, eight years and not touching a club for five, six, seven months,” he said. “It’s been great, though. I get to hang out with my family and build the golf course and do a lot of fun stuff. But shooting a 62 on Sunday is really cool.”
Blair had back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 4 and 5, then ripped through the par-5 13th with six birdies and an eagle, where he hit his approach from 253 yards to within 5 feet.
Harman scored 64 in his second over.
Patrick Cantley, who shot a 61 on Saturday, ran 13-15 with three straight birdies at Bradley to get within 5 strokes of the leaders. But he overshot the 16th green, leading to a bogey, and lipped his birdie attempt on the 17th. He shot a 67 to join Scotty Scheffler (65) and 2019 champion Chase Reavy (71), who started the day a shot behind Bradley but didn’t make birdie until the 14th hole.
Rory McIlroy shot 64 to finish 18 under. He birdied five of his first seven holes in front of galleries four or five fans deep.
But he gave it another shot on the ninth after his 352-yard drive settled next to the deep rough boundary fence. He then missed an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 12.
TPC River Highlands dropped eight rounds of 62 or better this week.
“I don’t particularly like when a match goes like this,” McIlroy said. “Unfortunately, technology has overtaken this course, right? It’s outdated, especially soft with a little rain.”
