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Bradley Beats Dufner in Playoff to win PGA Crown
Factfile on PGA Championship Winner Keegan Bradley
Dufner Finds Positives in Squandered Major Opportunity
Bradley Beats Dufner in Playoff to win PGA Crown
ATLANTA, August 15, 2011 (AFP) - Unheralded Keegan Bradley made an unforgettable comeback to win the 93rd PGA Championship on Sunday, rallying from five strokes behind with three holes to play to win in his major debut.
The US PGA Tour rookie caught leader Jason Dufner after 72 holes and then beat his American compatriot in a three-hole aggregate playoff to capture the Wanamaker Trophy and win the $1.44 million top prize at Atlanta Athletic Club.
"It feels unbelievable," Bradley said. "It seems like a dream and I'm afraid I'm going to wake up in the next five minutes and it's not going to be real."
Bradley, the 25-year-old nephew of LPGA legend Pat Bradley, became the first player since Ben Curtis at the 2003 British Open to win in his major debut, the first to win a major debut on US soil since Francis Ouimet at the 1913 US Open.
"I feel so proud," Bradley said. "The playoff, those holes in regulation, I'll never forget it the rest of my life. It was so exciting."
Bradley, whose first PGA title came in May at the Byron Nelson Championship, was five strokes off the pace after making a triple-bogey 6 at the 15th hole, but birdied the par-4 16th and par-3 17th to battle back.
Dufner, winless in six PGA seasons, squandered his four-stroke lead on the field with four holes to play with bogeys at 15, 16 and 17, leaving each of them tied after 72 holes on eight-under par 272.
"Playing three-over coming in was disappointing," Dufner said. "There's a lot to be learned from this."
In the playoff, Bradley birdied the 16th for the second time that afternoon to grab a one-stroke edge and Dufner took his second bogey within an hour at the 17th to fall two back.
Dufner sank a birdie putt on 18 but Bradley tapped in for par to win by a shot, becoming the first player using a belly putter to win a major, the 13th different winner in 13 majors and a record seventh first-time major winner in a row.
"It was pretty remarkable the way I played," Bradley said. "I'm very proud of the way I played. It's the best golf I've ever played, and man, it was so exciting."
Bradley's victory snapped the record six-major US win drought since Phil Mickelson's Masters triumph last year.
Denmark's Anders Hansen fired the day's low round, a 66, to finish third on 273, one stroke out of the playoff and two strokes ahead of Sweden's Robert Karlsson and Americans David Toms and Scott Verplank.
Australian Adam Scott was another stroke back on 276 with World No. 1 Luke Donald and World No. 2 Lee Westwood on 277. All three shot 68, the English duo each making a bogey at 18 to stumble back after making early charges.
Bradley, who will jump from 108th to 29th in the world rankings, and Dufner staged a wild fight down the final holes of regulation to reach only the fourth playoff in PGA Championship history under the current format.
"As soon as I realized I was going into a playoff, I completely calmed down," Bradley said. "I got to the tee on 16, it was the most calm I've been probably all week."
In the playoff, Bradley saw Dufner's approach just miss the cup, then put his second shot even nearer to the pin. Dufner missed from six feet and settled for par. Bradley made a five-foot birdie putt to take the lead for good.
At 17, Dufner missed a 14-foot par putt for his second bogey of the day there while Bradley dropped his five-foot par putt to seize a two-stroke edge heading to the 18th tee.
Bradley blasted his second shot over a water hazard onto the green and Dufner did the same, then dropped a 25-foot birdie putt before Bradley two-putted for the title.
In the final holes of regulation, Dufner birdied the 13th hole to reach 11-under par and parred the 14th to seemingly seize command.
Karlsson took a bogey at 16 to fall four strokes off the pace and Bradley chipped over the 15th green into the water on his way to a triple-bogey 6.
But the difficult closing four-hole stretch that frustrated many of golf's best players for four days devastated Dufner as well, starting when his tee shot at the 15th went left into a pond to set up a bogey.
"The course is so tough that no lead is safe," Bradley said. "I kept trying to tell myself that because I knew that that was the case, especially if you got a big lead, you might get a little tight coming down the end."
Dufner found a greenside bunker at the par-4 16th and missed a 12-foot par putt. When Bradley sank a long birdie putt on the 17th seconds later to reach eight-under, a roar went up and Dufner's lead went down. He missed a 10-foot par putt at 17, and the rest was history.
Factfile on PGA Championship Winner Keegan Bradley
ATLANTA, August 15, 2011 (AFP) - Factfile of Keegan Bradley, who won the 93rd PGA Championship on Sunday at Atlanta Athletic Club:
KEEGAN BRADLEY
Born - June 7, 1986
Age - 25
Place of Birth - Woodstock, Vermont, USA
Height - 6'3"
Weight - 190lbs
Home - Jupiter, Florida, USA
Turned pro - 2008
Joined US PGA Tour - 2011
US PGA Tour wins - 2 (2011 Byron Nelson Championship, 2011 PGA Championship)
Major wins - 1 (2011 PGA Championship)
Dufner Finds Positives in Squandered Major Opportunity
ATLANTA, August 15, 2011 (AFP) - Jason Dufner botched a chance to win the first title of his six-year career, squandering a four-hole lead with four holes to play and lose the PGA Championship in a playoff to Keegan Bradley.
The 34-year-old American was four up on the field and owned a five-stroke edge on Bradley after his US compatriot took a triple bogey at the par-3 15th, but Dufner made bogeys at 15, 16 and 17 while Bradley birdied 16 and 17.
In Sunday's three-hole aggregate playoff, Bradley birdied 16 again, Dufner made bogey at 17 again and Dufner's birdie at 18 was not enough to avoid a one-shot defeat when Bradley, 25, tapped in his par putt.
Far from miserable, Dufner was already finding the positives in what he hopes will not be a career-defining collapse.
"Coming from where I came from, to be in this position, it's a dream come true," he said. "I could never have imagined playing in major championships, playing with Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, that's a milestone to me itself."
Dufner vows he will not be forever known as a duffer, golf slang for a mediocre player.
"I'm not going to let this define my career. I'm young, not as young as Keegan is, but I have a lot of time to play golf and hopefully I'll have more time to win majors and use what happened today as a positive."
Dufner noted the invitations to majors that come his way as the runner-up and hopes to put himself in the same position he was on the 15th tee, only this time rewrite the nightmare horror-show ending into a Cinderella story.
"I'm disappointed now, but there are a lot of good things to take from this week," Dufner said. "I'm so new to this situation as far as trying to win majors. I probably don't appreciate it as much as I might soon.
"I'm disappointed in the fact that I couldn't close it out but I'm excited because I had a great finish in a major. It's going to open a lot of opportunities for me next year. It proves that I'm playing pretty well."
Even if the face of a humiliating defeat and after having gone winless in 142 prior US PGA starts, Dufner professed confidence that his day will come.
"Maybe looking back 10, 15 years from now, I'll feel disappointment that I let this one get away if I never get another chance," Dufner said.
"But, I've got a feeling that I'm going to have some chances to win some majors and some other golf tournaments to close one out."
PGA Championship Scores
Complete scores on Sunday after the final round of the 93rd PGA Championship at par-70 Atlanta Athletic Club (Bradley won a three-hole aggregate playoff 10 strokes to 11):
272 - Keegan Bradley (USA) 71-64-69-68, Jason Dufner (USA) 70-65-68-69
273 - Anders Hansen (DEN) 68-69-70-66
275 - Robert Karlsson (SWE) 70-71-67-67, David Toms (USA) 72-71-65-67, Scott Verplank (USA) 67-69-69-70
276 - Adam Scott (AUS) 69-69-70-68
277 - Lee Westwood (ENG) 71-68-70-68, Luke Donald (ENG) 70-71-68-68
278 - Kevin Na (USA) 72-69-70-67, D.A. Points (USA) 69-67-71-71
279 - Gary Woodland (USA) 70-70-71-68, Trevor Immelman (RSA) 69-71-71-68, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 72-69-69-69, Bill Haas (USA) 68-73-69-69, Nick Watney (USA) 70-71-68-70, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 71-71-66-71, Steve Stricker (USA) 63-74-69-73
280 - Brian Davis (ENG) 69-73-69-69, Phil Mickelson (USA) 71-70-69-70, Ryan Palmer (USA) 71-70-69-70, Matt Kuchar (USA) 71-71-68-70, Hunter Mahan (USA) 72-72-66-70, John Senden (AUS) 68-68-72-72, Brendan Steele (USA) 69-68-66-77
281 - Charles Howell (USA) 72-68-73-68, Robert Allenby (AUS) 72-70-71-68, Jerry Kelly (USA) 65-73-74-69, Bubba Watson (USA) 74-68-70-69, Mark Wilson (USA) 69-71-71-70, Scott Piercy (USA) 71-68-71-71, Brendon de Jonge (ZIM) 68-72-69-72, Spencer Levin (USA) 71-70-68-72
282 - Chris Kirk (USA) 72-72-69-69, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 72-71-67-72, Alexander Noren (SWE) 70-72-68-72
283 - Matteo Manassero (ITA) 68-74-71-70, Ben Crane (USA) 71-72-66-74
284 - Johan Edfors (SWE) 71-70-73-70, Harrison Frazar (USA) 72-69-72-71, Ian Poulter (ENG) 74-68-70-72, K.J. Choi (KOR) 70-73-69-72, Bill Lunde (USA) 71-71-69-73, Jim Furyk (USA) 71-65-73-75
285 - Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) 70-73-76-66, Ross Fisher (ENG) 71-69-76-69, Noh Seung-yul (KOR) 71-70-75-69, Andres Romero (ARG) 72-70-74-69, Yuta Ikeda (JPN) 73-68-72-72, Brandt Jobe (USA) 68-69-73-75
286 - Rickie Fowler (USA) 74-69-75-68, John Rollins (USA) 72-72-70-72, Jhonattan Vegas (VEN) 70-68-74-74, Johnson Wagner (USA) 71-69-72-74, Simon Dyson (ENG) 68-72-71-75
287 - Ryan Moore (USA) 75-69-76-67, Ricky Barnes (USA) 69-75-71-72, Bryce Molder (USA) 74-69-70-74
288 - Michael Bradley (USA) 70-74-74-70, Zach Johnson (USA) 71-72-73-72, Kim Kyung-Tae (KOR) 73-71-70-74
290 - Robert Garrigus (USA) 70-70-74-76, Kevin Streelman (USA) 73-71-71-75
291 - Sean O'Hair (USA) 71-73-77-70, Peter Hanson (SWE) 71-71-76-73, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 73-69-75-74, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 70-73-74-74, Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 69-73-72-77
292 - Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 75-69-76-72, Yang Yong-eun (KOR) 71-73-74-74, Mike Small (USA) 73-71-70-78
294 - Paul Casey (ENG) 72-72-78-72, Davis Love (USA) 68-71-76-79
295 - Shaun Micheel (USA) 66-78-77-74, Rory Sabbatini (RSA) 73-69-73-80