INZAI (AFP) – 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 yesterday.
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 honours.
“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.”
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.
