INZAI, Japan —
Keegan Bradley said he could contend for another major title after
ending a four-year drought on the US PGA Tour by winning the Zozo Championship
in Japan on Sunday.
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Bradley won his
lone major at the PGA Championship in 2011, but he has struggled to build on
that success and he had not claimed a US PGA Tour title since the 2018 BMW
Championship.
He snapped his
skid in dramatic fashion at
Narashino Country Club, nailing a 15-foot birdie
putt on the 17th hole after a late wobble to pull away from Rickie Fowler and
Andrew Putnam.
Bradley said he
believed the long-awaited title would “go a long way” towards putting him back
into contention for major honors.
“For me, I feel
like I should be contending for tournaments — I want to be contending to play
on Ryder Cup, President’s Cup teams, majors,” said the 36-year-old.
“I really learned
a lot and I think I can take a lot of that going forward the rest of the year,”
he added.
Bradley began the
day one stroke behind Fowler, but jumped into the lead after back-to-back
birdies on the fifth and sixth holes.
He looked to be in
control after birdying the 11th, but he bogeyed the 14th and then got into real
trouble when he shanked a wild shot out of the 16th bunker.
He ended up
bogeying that hole too, but an ice-cold birdie putt on the 17th gave him a
two-shot lead heading into the final hole as Fowler and Putnam faltered.
Bradley closed out
with a par to take the title, and said he had “never experienced emotions like
that” in his career.
“I hit that birdie
on 17 and it was one of the best birdies of my life — one that when I think
back on this tournament, that’s the pivotal hole,” he said.
“I was never going
to give up, I knew I was still in a good spot to win the tournament.”
‘Bittersweet’ for Fowler
Bradley finished on 15-under par on 265, one shot ahead of Fowler and
Putnam.
Fowler was looking
to end his own title drought, stretching back three-and-a-half years to the
2019 Phoenix Open.
The three-time
major runner-up and former world number four said it was “bittersweet” after
hitting two birdies and two bogeys in a final round of level par 70.
“Final round,
haven’t been there a whole lot in the last couple of years, really just didn’t
give myself many opportunities until the end,” said 33-year-old Fowler. “And I
hit some darn good putts that it was like there was a cover over the hole. Gave
it our all, left it all out there.”
Defending champion
Hideki Matsuyama finished off a frustrating week with a 71, to finish three
under in a tie for 40th. Japan’s only male major winner has been followed by
thousands of fans around the course all week, but he was never in title
contention.
“I was looking to
win the title and nothing else, so there’s nothing I can really take from this
week — it’s disappointing,” he said.
Matsuyama did give
the fans something to cheer for with a closing birdie on the 18th hole.
“I thought
‘finally, my touch and line have come together as I wanted them to’,” he said.
“There were a lot of people in the gallery there, so I’m glad I was able to
score a birdie for them.”
Tokyo Olympic
gold-medallist
Xander Schauffele had his best round of the week, carding a 65
to finish in a tie for ninth place at 10-under par 270.
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