CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Keegan Bradley can take in the view this week in Colorado, both figuratively and literally. He’s got nothing to lose, really, and everything to gain. And ultimately, he’s just happy to be here.
Bradley, who last month was named U.S. Ryder Cup captain for 2025, was the last player in the 50-man field for this week’s BMW Championship at Castle Pines. Only the top 30 after this week advance to the Tour Championship.
With a poor week at the FedEx Cup St. Jude Championship and a final-round 68 at TPC Southwind, all he could do was wait it out on Sunday afternoon and hope for the best—with the unenviable feeling of needing others to falter.
“It was horrible, really horrible,” Bradley said Wednesday at Castle Pines after playing in the pro-am. “It was one of the toughest afternoons I’ve had. This is my 14th year on Tour. It felt like being at Tour School or something.
“It was not very much fun. The disappointing thing was I haven’t had the best year, but I put myself in position to make the Tour Championship. I was 39th (in FedEx Cup points heading to Memphis). There was a lot of movement there. We all kind of thought I was in good shape. But that’s what the playoffs are about.”
Bradley opened the tournament with rounds of 69 and 70 but found himself falling in the standings. A third-round 74 put him out of the top 50 and even the final-round score didn’t make him feel very good.
Players such as Maverick McNealy and Tom Kim could have bumped him out and ultimately it was Kim—who finished the tournament 6-6-6—who fell out and led to Bradley getting the last spot in the BMW.
And getting that spot comes with a huge bonus: a place in all eight signature events for 2025.
“This top 50 is becoming the most important thing we play for out here on Tour,” he said. “Those elevated events have so many FedEx Cup points. It’s all the tournaments you want to play, forget about the points. It’s the tournaments with the most prestige, the most history. It’s really important.”
And that is what made Sunday especially tough after what has been a relatively disappointing season that has seen Bradley post just two top-10 finishes.
“You hold yourself to a standard of playing in those tournaments and being at that level. All of a sudden it was looking like I wasn’t going to be in those events. I want to go win Bay Hill and Memorial (two of the signature events). I want to have those on my resume. When you’re not playing them, it’s brutal.”
As for this week, Bradley needs a high finish. At the very least, he needs to be in the top nine and probably won’t make the Tour Championship next week—for the top 30 players—unless he is in the top five.
It means he can play with some freedom, although he doesn’t plan to go at it any differently.
“I don’t play very good when I do that,” Bradley said when asked if he might take a more aggressive approach. “It’s going to be a regular week. I try to birdie every hole I play anyway, so if I try harder to make birdies, normally they don’t come. I won’t look at where I stand. Last week I tried not to look. This week I got to have a really high finish anyway. Hopefully I’m watching the leaderboard and have a reason to.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Keegan Bradley, No. 50 in the 50-Man BMW Championship, Has Already Won.
