PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — When it was over, Keegan Bradley was gutted. His eyes have been purple and his voice was low.
Lower than an hour earlier, Bradley was red-hot round TPC Sawgrass, making a loud run on the second-biggest victory of his profession as he tried to chase down eventual winner Cam Smith and win The Gamers Championship.
The spirited bid by the previous St. John’s star, nonetheless, was unceremoniously derailed by a three-putt bogey on the par-3 seventeenth gap and a double bogey on 18 when his second shot, a punch from the pine straw, landed within the water.
Minutes after he walked off the 18th gap and spoke to 2 reporters ready for him, Bradley apologized.
“I’m sorry,’’ he mentioned. “I’m having a tough time pondering of phrases to say.’’
No apology obligatory.
Bradley, who completed 9-under par and in fifth place after taking pictures a final-round 4-under 68, was 12-under when he stood on the seventeenth tee only one shot behind Smith.
His tee shot on 17 ended up 62 ft from the outlet and his birdie putt ran 9 ft previous and onto the perimeter. Bradley, whose lag placing had been good all day and who had simply two three-putts in his earlier 37 rounds, didn't make the 9-footer and fell two pictures behind Smith.
He pushed his tee shot into the best pine straw on 18 and was stymied behind a tree with no clear have a look at the inexperienced. From there, he tried a hero punch try towards the inexperienced, however hit it too far left and it ended up within the lake.
Double bogey. Dream useless.
What made the ache sting just a bit bit extra was the truth that Bradley, on Friday, had taken a two-shot penalty for an obscure guidelines violation when he marked his ball on the inexperienced however left the ball there and it moved.
He certain might have used these two strokes on Monday in his pursuit of Smith.
“Man, I’m so bummed out,’’ Bradley mentioned. “That was powerful. I’m happy with the best way I performed. I performed very well in the present day. Very well all week. I had a two-shot penalty on Friday and nonetheless was proper there. I didn’t let it faze me.’’
Bradley, who dealt with the penalty effectively on Friday regardless of being perplexed by the rule, was nonetheless scorching about it on Monday.
“First off, I believe the USGA must smarten up and alter that rule,’’ he mentioned. “It’s so foolish. They attempt to make the foundations simpler, and so they by no means get it proper.’’
Bradley mentioned the penalty “pissed me off actually and made me extra targeted.’’
After Bradley completed along with his 1-under 71 within the second spherical within the worst of the climate this week — a spherical that may have been 3-under with out the penalty — he referred to as it among the best rounds he’d ever performed.
He made no excuses on Friday or Monday, didn’t blame the penalty for him falling brief. He, in truth, reasoned that the penalty might have spurred him to play even higher.
“It obtained me so pissed off that it refocused me,’’ he mentioned. “I believe I performed the remainder of the holes 1-under. Possibly I don’t play these holes 1-under [without the penalty].’’
“It was a fluke factor,’’ Bradley mentioned of the foundations infraction. “I’ve spoken to a bunch of the blokes and never one participant is aware of this rule. All of us thought frequent sense says you set your coin down, that’s the place your ball is. I didn’t wish to break the foundations by transferring my coin. I used to be making an attempt to do the best factor. I put the coin down and as I’m going to seize [the ball], an enormous gust of wind [came] and [the ball moved].
“The rule really states it's important to decide the ball up, so the coin means nothing for no matter cause. I’d like to listen to the USGA’s clarification for that. They appear to love to screw all the things up.’’
Success got here shortly for Bradley, who received two tournaments his rookie yr, in 2011, one the PGA Championship. That vaulted him straight into the elite class of the PGA Tour. He was all of the sudden on Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup groups and he cherished being part of that. He received once more in 2012 however has received solely as soon as since, the 2018 BMW Championship. For the reason that early run, Bradley’s world rating dipped and the invitations to the group occasions have disappeared. He burns to be again enjoying with the in crowd.
Extra performances like this week will push him again towards that.
“I actually felt like I used to be a adequate participant to be on these groups,’’ Bradley mentioned. “I really feel like I can convey loads to these groups, particularly now that I’m older. I might kill to be on these groups, and I really feel like I might be.’’
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