Keegan Bradley’s putter kept him in the tournament.
Finally, when Tommy Fleetwood blinked, Bradley pounced, with a birdie putt of 5 feet, 8 inches on the final hole of the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., to win the Travelers Championship for the second time in three years by one shot over Fleetwood and Russell Henley on June 22 at 15-under-par 265.
Bradley (68) made a 64-foot birdie putt at No. 9 to cap a 2-under, no-bogey front nine, tying for the lead with Fleetwood (72), who is still seeking his first PGA Tour victory after eight full seasons, 159 starts and 42 top-10 finishes.
Fleetwood went back ahead by two shots with birdie putts at Nos. 11 and 13. But Bradley shadowed him with a 37-foot birdie roll at No. 15 and two-putt pars at Nos. 16 and 17.
The tournament was still Fleetwood’s with a one-shot lead on the 18th tee. He spliced the fairway at No. 18, as did Bradley, but a pitching wedge from 148 yards out was short and landed 49 feet from the hole.
Bradley, from 138 yards, took a 9-iron and dropped it softly on the green, less than 6 feet below the hole.
Russell Henley chips in at final hole
As if the birdie-bogey swing wasn’t enough drama, Henley added to it when he chipped in from heavy rough for a birdie to tie Bradley at 14-under and create the possibility of a three-way playoff.
But Fleetwood left his putt off the fringe woefully short — he was outside Bradley’s ball mark — and then missed the par attempt on the right side of the hole.
Bradley then drilled the birdie putt for his eighth PGA Tour victory and first of the season after four top-10 finishes. He made 168 feet, 8 inches of putts in the final round.
Fleetwood, who has won seven times on the DP World Tour and was the circuit’s Player of the Year in 2017, has the most career top-10s on the PGA Tour without a victory since the Tour began tracking the statistic in 1983.
They’ll see each other again in the British Open, the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the Ryder Cup in Sept. 26-28 at Bethpage State Park in New York: Bradley is the U.S. captain and Fleetwood, 7-3-2 in three Ryder Cup appearances, will be among the top players for Europe.
Bradley is projected to jump from 28th to eighth on the PGA Tour money list with a $3.6 million winner’s check, increasing his season total to $7,043,794. He also earned 700 FedEx Cup points and went from 30th to eighth.
Jason Day (68) and Harris English (65) tied for fourth at 13-under and Scottie Scheffler (65) and Rory McIlroy (65) made late moves to climb within range of the leaders. They finished at 12-under.
U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun (63) made six birdies on his front nine (River Highlands’ back) and tied for 14th at 7-under.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: PGA Tour Travelers Championship: Keegan Bradley denies Tommy Fleetwood with closing birdie
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
