U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley denied Tommy Fleetwood of a maiden PGA TOUR triumph in dramatic fashion by birdying the last to snatch the title away from the Englishman by claiming a narrow one-shot victory in a gripping Travelers Championship.
34-year-old Fleetwood came into the final round at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut with a three-shot advantage as he looked in search for a long-awaited triumph on the PGA TOUR. Despite a rocky start in which he sunk three birdies in his opening four holes, Fleetwood managed to steady the ship during the middle phase with important birdies at the 11th and 13th to help him stay at the summit of the leaderboard going into the closing stages of the event.
But Bradley, three shots back, began cutting into Fleetwood’s advantage with a sublime 37-foot birdie putt at the 15th which sliced the gap to two shots. The lead was then halved after a costly bogey from Fleetwood at the 16th which once again opened the door ajar for the American. Fleetwood’s lead remained a single shot heading into the last but could only three-putt from 50 feet to end with a closing bogey. Bradley took advantage of Fleetwood’s final slip-up by converting his birdie putt to conclude with a final-round 68, clinch his eight PGA TOUR victory, and collect the $3.6million winner’s prize.
This is Bradley’s second win in what the New England native labels as his home tournament in three years and it increases talk of the American potentially becoming the first playing-captain in the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
“Really, really crazy,” Bradley said. “I felt like I was just too far behind the whole day. I was just chasing, chasing. I just had that feeling that I was just too far behind the whole day, but I came in here and made the putts when I needed to.”
For Fleetwood it was agony as he ended runner-up for the sixth occasion on the PGA TOUR and whilst also achieving a 42nd top-10 finish in 159 starts.
“I’m gutted,” he said speaking to CBS. “A couple of wrong clubs down the last couple. I didn’t putt great today after putting well all week. There was a stretch on the back nine where I should have taken control.
“I left one in the jaws on 12 and I was playing good. On 14, a weak putt. On 16, a tough up and down. I was feeling good after flashing the drive on 18 but we got that one wrong and left it in the worst possible spot in front of Keegan’s ball.
Then I didn’t hit the best putt. Things to work on. I hadn’t been in that situation for a long time and I felt I did a good job for the most part. But it’s the worst way to finish: leading by two with three to play and then leading by one down the last but not even making a play-off.”
America’s Russell Henley caught up to Fleetwood with a final-round 69 to also claim a runner-up finish on 14 under whilst there was also a tie for fourth between America’s Harris English and Australia’s Jason Day.
What is the next event?
The next event on the PGA TOUR schedule is the Rocket Classic taking place between 26-29 June at Detroit Golf Club in Michigan.