Keegan Bradley Player Profile And What's In The Bag

Article Updated - August 2024

It is 61 years since the USA last had a playing Ryder Cup captain. That man was Arnold Palmer.

After winning the BMW Championship, Keegan Bradley, the current incumbent, has climbed to 11th in the world rankings and he will rise even further with a good performance at this week’s season-ending Tour Championship.

In less than 12 months time the American could be faced with a difficult decision because one thing is clear - this is now a full-time job and it will surely be well-nigh impossible for him to combine both duties should he automatically qualify for his own team.

Bradley held his nerve during the final round to clinch victory in the BMW Championship at Castle Pines, near Denver.

He came into Sunday with a one-shot lead from Australia's Adam Scott, who drew level after the opening hole. However, a run of three straight bogeys by Scott, from the 10th hole, gave Bradley a lead he would not relinquish.

The 38-year-old, who also won the BMW Championship in a play-off with Justin Rose in 2018, bogeyed the last to finish with a level-par 72, on 12 under for the week.

He won by one stroke from Scott, compatriot Sam Burns and Sweden's Ludvig Aberg to claim his seventh PGA Tour title - and his first since last year's Travelers Championship.

• Player Profile
• Last 10 Events
• Key Stats
• World Ranking
• What's In The Bag

Bradley will now enter the Tour Championship - which features just the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings - in fourth place while world number one Scottie Scheffler remains top, despite finishing joint 33rd at Castle Pines.

"Oh, man, it just shows why you've got to grind it out every week because you never know how fast it can switch," Bradley said. "Now I go to Atlanta with a chance to win the FedEx Cup. I can't believe it. I'm so excited."

Burns began the day on four under but shot a magnificent seven-under 65 to finish joint second. The 28-year-old had eight birdies in his final round.

England's Tommy Fleetwood also climbed the leaderboard on Sunday, firing a three-under 69 to finish on eight under. That saw him move from 31st to 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings and secure a place in the Tour Championship.

"It's just a nice challenge mentally going out there and playing when you know you've got something on the line," he said. "I was happy with that. I felt like it was tough, and yeah, I played really well and putted well."

Player Profile

Bradley was born in Woodstock on June 7, 1986. He turned professional in 2008 and began playing on the Hooters Tour, winning at Southern Dunes. Bradley won a second Hooters Tour event in 2009 at the Texas Honing Open. He made 22 cuts in 26 events that season and earned $84,000. He also played two Nationwide Tour events, making the cut in both of them. He failed to gain his PGA Tour card at qualifying school for the 2010 season.

In 2010, Bradley played on the Nationwide Tour, where he recorded four consecutive top-five finishes late in the season to finish 14th on the money list and earn his PGA Tour card for  2011.

He won the US PGA Championship in 2011, becoming only the sixth golfer to win a major at his first attempt, joining Ben Curtis, Willie Park, Fred Herd, Francis Ouimet and Horace Rawlins. He also won the Byron Nelson Classic the same year and was named PGA Tour rookie of the year.

The following year he won the WGC Bridgestone Invitational but had to wait until 2018 for his next success, at the BMW Championship.

Bradley, who is one of the most deliberate players on the PGA Tour, used to anchor his putter and had to adapt when anchoring was banned.

He represented the USA at the Ryder Cup in 2012 and 2014 and played in the Presidents Cup in 2013.

Last season he won the Zozo Championship and the Travelers Championship but was controversially overlooked by captain Zach Johnson for the Ryder Cup at Marco Simone.

Even more of a surprise was his appointment as captain of the team to take on Europe in New York in 2025.

Last 10 Events

BMW Championship - 1st

FedEx St Jude Championship - T59th

Wyndham Championship - T22nd

3M Open - T46th

The 152nd Open - CUT

RBC Heritage - T48th

Travelers Championship - T39th

US Open - T32nd

The Memorial Tournament - T43rd

Charles Schwab Challenge - T2nd

Key Stats

Driving Distance - 304.7 Yards

Driving Accuracy - 63.02%

Greens in Regulation - 67.41%

Sand Saves - 56.03%

Putts Per Round - 29.09

Scoring Average - 70.28

End of Year World Ranking Position

2020: 131

2021: 87

2022: 25

2023: 16

What's In Keegan Bradley's Bag?

Driver: PING G430 LST (10.5 Degrees)

3-Wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (16.5 Degrees)

Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW (19 Degrees)

Irons: Srixon ZX5 Mk II (3-5) & Srixon ZX7 Mk II (6-PW)

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore (52-10 Mid, 58-6 Low)

Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird

Golf Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond