Keegan Bradley beats Justin Rose in BMW Championship playoff

Keegan Bradley outlasted new World No. 1 Justin Rose on the first playoff hole of the BMW Championship, taking home his first PGA TOUR victory in over six years.

Keegan Bradley worked towards this moment for more than six years. The fact that it almost didn’t happen this week makes it that much sweeter.

Bradley, 32, outlasted newly-minted World No. 1 Justin Rose to win the BMW Championship, the third leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. With this victory, Bradley moves from No. 52 in the rankings to No. 6. That allows him to move on to East Lake and the TOUR Championship for the first time since 2013.

And to think, Mother Nature almost kept this moment from happening. The torrential downpours over the past few days at Aronimink nearly forced the tournament to be shortened to 54 holes. As well as Bradley had been playing (66-64-66 through three rounds), he was three shots behind Rose, and losing time quickly.

On Sunday, the PGA TOUR and the grounds crew at Aronimink did everything they could to get players on the course. Tee times were moved up significantly, but the rains kept falling, and falling, and falling.

Tee times slowly got pushed back from 9am, to noon, then 1pm. The TOUR’s final two updates on Sunday were nothing more than formalities. The tournament would need to get half of its players through on Monday, or else the 54-hole standings would become final.

As day broke and the rains lightened, opportunity came along for Bradley, and he took full advantage. He went out in four-under 31, including an outstanding 33-footer for birdie on the par-3 eighth.

Still, Rose led. Until, of course, he didn’t. A host of contenders tried to make a run at the top. 2014 FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel shot 64 to tie for third. Rory McIlroy went bogey-free on the day, but only made two birdies to finish in fifth. Tiger Woods, Webb Simpson and Tony Finau all shot 65 to push into the top 10, but they were simply not close enough.

By the end of the day, the tournament came down to three players. Bradley made three more birdies on the back nine to head to the 18th tee tied for the lead with Rose. Xander Schauffele was two back, and looked ready to pounce on any opportunity he was given.

As it turned out, both the co-leaders gave a little back. Bradley was up first, and he hooked his drive badly, going left of the gallery into a muddy, trampled area. Certainly feeling like he needed a hero effort at this time, he went the opposite way on his second shot, with his ball finding the greenside grandstand.

All wasn’t lost, as Bradley was granted a free drop from alongside the grandstand. He chipped inside ten feet, but when his par putt scooted by, the closing bogey seemed destined to cost him once again.

However, Rose faltered himself. The Englishman found the fairway off the tee, but his approach shot came up woefully short as a gust of wind killed the ball mid-flight. Rose didn’t need any heroics to make par, but when his chip came up 16 feet short of the hole, there was work left to do.

Rose’s putt tracked seemingly to the center of the cup, but it broke late, falling halfway down before lipping out. Schauffele made par, and the playoff was set.

It didn’t take long..

Rose drew the honor on the 73rd hole, and proceeded to hit a hook eerily similar to the one Bradley did the first time through, while Bradley found the fairway. The pair drew even on approach, however, with Rose a few feet closer to the hole.

Bradley’s third shot came up about a foot short of the hole. It was no more than a tap-in, but he had to be preparing himself to head back to the tee for another sudden-death hole. Then, Rose cracked for basically the first time all year.

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Rose chose to putt from the collar, and his ball skipped three times before coming to rest inside five feet. 48 times before at Aronimink, Rose faced a putt of five feet or less. 48 times, Rose holed out.

Except this time. 48 of 49 is great, except when the one miss comes in a sudden-death playoff.

As Bradley thrust his arms into the air, his family joined him in celebration on the green. Rose, ever the sportsman, shook his hand and moved away to let Bradley have his moment. He grinned as he tossed his son, Logan, into the air. It was the first time he had won since becoming a father.

"“A lot has happened to me over these six years,” Bradley said. “I kind of fell off the radar there for a little while. It’s tough to go from being on Ryder Cup teams, being on Presidents Cup teams to being outside the top 100 in the world.”"

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Bradley isn’t off the radar anymore. He’s been close to breaking through a handful of times over the last two years, but this one meant something more.

Against tough competition from top to bottom, and with a trip to the FedEx Cup finale on the line, Keegan Bradley didn’t just contend – he defeated the very best the world has to offer, literally.

Here’s hoping this isn’t the last time we hear that for a while. From what we saw Monday, I doubt it will be.

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