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BMW Championship: Last man in the field, Keegan Bradley holds on to win in Colorado
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BMW Championship: Last man in the field, Keegan Bradley holds on to win in Colorado

CASTLE ROCK, COLORADO - AUGUST 24: Keegan Bradley celebrates with a fist pump after making a birdie putt on the 18th hole green as fans cheer during the third round of the BMW Championship, the second event of the FedExCup Playoffs, at Castle Pines Golf Club on August 24, 2024 in Castle Rock, Colorado. (Photo by Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

Keegan Bradley, the new US Ryder Cup captain, will play in next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta. (Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour via Getty Images)

Keegan Bradley was the last man in the field this week in Colorado.

Apparently he didn’t care at all.

Bradley, who started at No. 50 in the FedEx Cup standings, held on Sunday night to pick up a one-shot victory at the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club outside Denver. It was his first win of the season and moved him up a whopping 46 spots in the rankings — enough to earn a spot in the field at next week’s Tour Championship.

Bradley finished with an even-par 72 on Sunday to stay at 12-under for the week. Bradley now becomes the first active U.S. Ryder Cup captain to win on the PGA Tour since Davis Love III did it in 2015. The only other golfer in history to do so was Jack Nicklaus. Bradley, who is currently No. 4 in the FedEx Cup rankings, will jump to No. 11 in the world rankings.

Bradley began his final round with a one-stroke lead over the field after a mixed Moving Day, in which he made eight birdies but shot just a 2-under 70. Nearly everyone else in the field was with him on Saturday, too. Only eight golfers broke 70 in the third round.

With his lead, Bradley held on all day Sunday. He opened the round with a birdie on the first hole, but his partner Adam Scott made a deep eagle putt to stay with him and take a share of the lead. Scott kept the pace going until the turn, but he eventually slipped and made three straight bogeys to virtually eliminate him from the running. While Scott stumbled, Bradley held on. He rattled off an incredible 13 straight pars before finally making bogey on the 15th.

While Ludvig Åberg applied pressure with a birdie on the 17th hole in front of him, Bradley missed an eagle putt on the par 5 just short of a tap-in birdie and extended his lead to two.

Bradley walked to the 18th green to loud chants of “USA” from the crowd and then made three putts for bogey on the final hole to secure his par 72 and clinch the victory.

Åberg, Scott and Sam Burns — who posted a 7-under 65 for the day — tied for second at 11-under for the week, three strokes clear of the fifth-place group that also included Xander Schauffele and Cam Davis.

Bradley has now won seven times on the PGA Tour in his career. He has two runner-up finishes this season, including when he lost in a playoff at the Sony Open in January, and he finished T18 at the PGA Championship — his best finish at a major this season.

Despite finishing 1-over for the week in the second half of the standings, Scottie Scheffler will still enter the Tour Championship ranked No. 1 in the standings. Scheffler, who has won six times this season, leads the field in the FedEx Cup standings by more than 1,000 points. He will start at 10 under on the leaderboard. Xander Schauffele, who won both the PGA Championship and British Open this year, is safely in second place and will start at 8 under. Hideki Matsuyama, who withdrew this week because of a back injury, will be ranked third at East Lake if he is able to play.

Bradley, who nearly came out of contention last week, now starts at East Lake at 6-under and has a realistic chance of winning the FedEx Cup.