Times wires
Sunday, May 29, 2011
IRVING, Texas — Walking down the 18th fairway during a playoff and realizing he was about to get his first PGA Tour victory, Keegan Bradley got emotional thinking about a cowbell.
The one that is in the World Golf Hall of Fame. The one his grandmother rang after every win by his famous aunt, LPGA Tour great Pat Bradley, whose 31 victories included six majors.
"It was like pull it together, don't start thinking about the cowbell," Keegan Bradley said. "The cowbell in my family is an iconic thing."
Bradley settled himself and won the Byron Nelson Championship, parring the first hole of a playoff with Ryan Palmer on Sunday. Bradley sank a 2-foot par putt at the 419-yard 18th hole in the playoff, while Palmer's approach went into the water before a 13-foot bogey putt.
Bradley, a PGA Tour rookie who never won on the Nationwide Tour, got his first professional victory nine days before his 25th birthday. He looked forward to talking to his aunt.
"She is a lot calmer on the golf course than she is watching me. I'm sure she was by the TV going crazy," Bradley said. "I talk to her regularly through text messages and phone calls about tournaments and what it's like to come down near the end. … This is the closest thing we ever had in common in terms of playing."
About an hour before the playoff, Bradley finished his closing round of 2-under 68 with a par at No. 18, dropping into a squat and hopping a few times in frustration when his 10-foot birdie chance slid by the hole.
Palmer (72) and Bradley finished at 3-under 277, the highest winning score on the PGA Tour this year and the highest in relation to par in a non-major since 1999. It was the fifth playoff in six weeks and 10th overall.
Palmer forced the extra hole with a 6-foot putt at No. 18 for the second birdie there all day.
Amateur Jordan Spieth, 17, had a rough finish, closing with two double-bogeys and two bogeys for a 7-over 77 and 6 over for the tournament.
"I was humbled by this back nine," said the future Texas Longhorn. "I'm focused on college now. Had I won today, who knows, but I'm focused now on the next step."
CHAMPIONS: Tom Watson summoned up some of his old major magic, holing a 3-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to beat David Eger in the Senior PGA Championship in Louisville, Ky. Watson, 61, who was down a shot with four holes left in regulation, became the oldest player to win a major since the seniors tour was created in 1980. Watson closed with 2-under 70 to finish at 10-under 278 and capture his 14th career major, six since turning 50.
EUROPEAN: Luke Donald won a duel for No. 1 with a playoff victory over fellow Englishman Lee Westwood at the BMW PGA Championship in Virginia Water, England. Donald's approach shot on No. 18, the first playoff hole, landed a few feet from the hole. Westwood, who went in as the world No. 1, sent his shot into a water hazard. Westwood shot 3-under 68 in regulation and Donald shot 70 to both finish at 6-under 278.
LPGA: Mariajo Uribe shot 6-under 66 to beat Lindsey Wright by a stroke in the 36-hole Brazil Cup in Rio de Janeiro. Uribe had seven birdies and a bogey to finish at 9-under 135 in the 30-player exhibition event.
Source: http://www.tampabay.com/sports/rookie-bradley-gets-first-win/1172571
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