Keegan Bradley won BMW's first title since taking over as captain

Keegan Bradley may have been the last man in the field this week at the BMW Championship, but he retained the No. 1 ranking.

No, the No. 1 spot in the FedEx Cup standings going into next week's season finale at the Tour Championship still belongs to Scottie Scheffler, but Bradley is headed to East Lake with him after winning the BMW Championship, his first PGA Tour title since. last season the Travelers Championship. He will head to Atlanta in 4th place in the season standings which will mean he will start the Tour Championship at six under, behind Scheffler.

But a lot has changed for Bradley between his last two wins, which now give him seven in his career.

Despite two victories in the 2022-23 season, Bradley was left out of the US Ryder Cup team by captain Zach Johnson at last year's games in Rome. The US team, despite having three of last year's top finishers and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, soundly defeated by Team Europe.

Then came the shock this summer when Bradley, just 38 years old and seemingly in the prime of his career, was named captain of the 2025 US Ryder Cup team.

The surprise announcement and Bradley's continued strong play on the PGA Tour led to questions about whether Bradley would end up playing captain at Bethpage. He is committed to being in the team only if he is able to get a degree and not to choose himself if he doesn't

This week in Colorado was Bradley's first time in the competition since being named captain in July and he has shown that he will not need a captain's choice to make next year's squad.

He opened with a bogey-free 66 at Castle Pines Golf Club on Thursday to take the lead, his 11th lead after 18 holes in his career, but went 0-0 in his last 10 attempts. He appeared to be fading midway through Saturday's ninth, but reeled off four birdies in the final five holes to take a one-shot lead over Adam Scott going into the final round.

His lead was erased when Scott bogeyed the opening hole, birdieing Bradley, but the American went on to birdie the next 13 holes. By then Scott was back and Bradley had a one shot lead as he played his long approach to the 15th green and made bogey.

Bradley then delivered the clincher on the 17th hole. From 227 yards on the short par-5 in elevation, he launched the iron sky high into the air and set it up quickly before the green and watched as we let go just 16 feet. He left the eagle incredibly short, but the birdie was enough of a cushion to allow him to put up three points for a final round 72 and one victory at 12 under Scott, Ludvig Aberg and Sam Burns, who finished the hours. before the last group.

It's Bradley's second FedEx Cup Playoff penalty shootout win after winning in 2018 at Aronimink. That was his first title in six years and he did not win again for more than four years before winning the Zozo Championship in the fall of 2022. He has now won three championships since 2022.

He also became the third player to win a PGA Tour event after being named Ryder Cup captain in the past 60 years, joining Jack Nicklaus and Davis Love III.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A native of Pennsylvania, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was the captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as the head coach. Jack is also *still* trying to stay competitive with the local novices. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a reporter/multimedia reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting weather. He can be reached at [email protected].