Keegan Bradley pulls a stunner to deny Fleetwood and win the Travelers Championship

CROMWELL Conn AP Keegan Bradley hasn t heard roars this loud for him since his Ryder Cup debut at Medinah in especially when he walked up the th green Sunday at the Travelers Championship and turned a one-shot deficit into a stunning one-shot win over Tommy Fleetwood On the one-year anniversary of Bradley accepting the job as Ryder Cup captain he made the strongest episode yet he should be brining his clubs to Bethpage Black With equal parts of grit and passion the -year-old Bradley rallied from a three-shot deficit with four holes to play with a -iron to feet for birdie on the final hole winning his second big title in months and denying the ever gracious Fleetwood his first PGA Tour win Bradley now has more wins in the last year than any American except Scottie Scheffler He is No in the Ryder Cup standings a career-best No in the world ranking This changes the story a little bit Bradley noted about his Ryder Cup role I never would have thought about playing if I hadn t won This definitely opens the door to play I don t know if I m going to do it or not but I certainly have to take a pretty hard look at what s best for the association Two birdies over the last four holes including a -foot putt on the th that kept alive his hopes sent Bradley to a -under for a one-shot mastery over Fleetwood and Russell Henley who chipped in across the the th green for a birdie and a Bradley who started the day three shots behind Fleetwood never led until he rolled in the birdie putt before a delirious sunbaked crowd at the TPC River Highlands It was crushing for Fleetwood who has a reputable world record but is for in regular PGA Tour starts He missed a pair of putts in the -foot range twice over the last five holes With a one-shot lead from the middle of the th fairway he came up just short and took three putts from feet away Fleetwood lost in a playoff before another home crowd to Nick Taylor at the Canadian Open This one stung even more considering it was in his hands I m upset now I m angry When it calms down look at the things that I did well look at the things that I can learn from Fleetwood reported The most of stupid thing to do and the worse thing to do would be make a week like this a hindrance to what you do going forward he noted Right now I would love to just go and sulk somewhere and maybe I will But there s just no point making it a negative for the future Henley called a one-shot penalty on himself in the second round when he saw his golf ball move the length of a dimple as he was playing a chip He notified the rules staff checked with them on the ruling and added one to his total for a penalty only he saw When urged on the th green if he should be playing Bradley noted only Go USA He heard plenty of that on a sunbaked day with the heat index approaching triple digits especially when he holed a -foot birdie putt on the ninth hole to stay in the mix Bradley was tied with Fleetwood who bogeyed three of his first four holes going to the back nine But the Englishman began to pull away with a pair of birdies and was two shots clear when he hit wedge to feet on the th hole Bradley one-hopped his approach over the green into a plugged lie in the bunker and all he could do was blast out to feet and make bogey But he fell only three shots behind when Fleetwood missed the short birdie putt But he made the -foot birdie putt on the th Fleetwood went long on the par- th chipped downhill various feet by for bogey to narrow the margin to one shot and set the tone for the turnaround that gave Bradley his second Travelers win in three years They re all special for the Vermont native playing in the only PGA Tour stop in the northeast This one carried chants of USA USA after every big putt especially the last one Of all the shots and all the putts I hit I think I m going to remember that one the preponderance he mentioned of his final birdie Bradley finished at -under and won million for his first title in a signature event He also won the BMW Championship the second FedEx Cup playoff event last August at Cherry Hills outside Denver Harris English boosted his Ryder Cup hopes by tying for fourth with Jason Day Scheffler who had a share of the -hole lead until a in the third round closed with a and tied for sixth with Rory McIlroy who also shot They were three shots back Scheffler and McIlroy already have clinched spots on the Ryder Cup gang Bradley is assured of being there too Still to be determined his what role he plays