It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t without its shaky moments, but Keegan Bradley did just enough to take the lead and held on to notch his fifth career PGA Tour title at the Zozo Championship.
The 36-year-old former PGA Championship winner shot 2-under 68 on Sunday at Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan, to edge Rickie Fowler and Andrew Putnam by one stroke.
Bradley, who began the day a stroke behind Fowler, moved to top of the leaderboard by canning a downhill 40-foot birdie putt at the par-3 fifth and marking another circle on the card at the par-5 sixth.
He stretched the lead to two two when he drained a 25-foot birdie putt at 11 and pumped his right fist. He looked in control until he made a sloppy bogey at the par-5 14th. Though he saved par at 15 with a 10-foot putt and clenched his fist, Bradley clearly was leaking oil and one hole later he coughed up the solo lead with his second bogey in his last three holes. Putnam (68) was tied for the lead at 14 under until he made bogey at 17 and Bradley made birdie to regain a two-stroke lead heading to the last.
“That was one of the best holes in my life,” said Bradley, of his birdie at 17.
He signed for a 72-hole total of 15-under 265.
Clutch on the 17th
@Keegan_Bradley birdies to take a 2-shot lead at 15-under. pic.twitter.com/wNSv3j1uVM
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 16, 2022
Bradley, who struggled for a time when the belly putter that he used to great effect was banned by the USGA, entered the week at No. 44 in the world, but he hadn’t visited the winner’s circle since the 2018 BMW Championship, a total of 1,498 days. That was actually a longer wait without hoisting a trophy than Fowler, who was seeking his first win since the 2019 WM Phoenix Open. It wasn’t to be for Fowler, who never looked comfortable with his ball striking in the final round and closed in even-par 70.
Keegan Bradley of the US fist bumps with his fan during the final round of the Zozo Championship golf tournament at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Inzai, Chiba prefecture on October 16, 2022. (Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP) (Photo by YUICHI YAMAZAKI/AFP via Getty Images)