This was the other side of a thrilling moment for Keegan Bradley.
As Keegan Bradley celebrated his victory at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, the air resonated with “U-S-A” chants in honor of the Ryder Cup captain. In contrast, Tommy Fleetwood departed the 18th green, grappling with another heartbreaking close call at a PGA Tour event.
Fleetwood was seen embracing his wife, Clare, after he bogeyed 18 to allow Bradley to steal the win with a clutch birdie putt.
Fleetwood, 34, now has 42 career top-10s without a victory on the PGA Tour as he continues to come up short in the biggest moments.
“I’m upset now. I’m angry. When it calms down, I’ll look at things I did well, look at the things I can learn from…,” the Englishman shared with reporters afterward. “I hadn’t been in this position all year, so it’s been a while. I felt like I did a lot of good things, but there are aspects I can definitely improve. I have to do better.”
Fleetwood had a three-stroke lead heading into Sunday, but bogeyed three of the first four holes to open the door for Bradley and Russell Henley.
Fleetwood still held a one-shot lead at TPC River Highlands heading into the final hole and drilled his driver down the middle of the fairway.
Following some uncertainty regarding club selection, Fleetwood’s approach landed just short of the green. Bradley, however, executed a brilliant shot that positioned the ball five feet short of the hole, while Henley holed out for birdie, closing within one shot of the leader.
Fleetwood left his first putt just shy of Bradley’s mark, then missed his putt on the right side. Bradley, a Vermont native and St. John’s grad, dramatically drilled his putt for the win.
It was the final signature event of the season, and Bradley earned $3.6 million with the win. Fleetwood and Henley got $1.76 million each for their second-place tie.
“The stupid thing to do would be to make this a hindrance to what you do going forward,” Fleetwood said. “I obviously played great, I put myself in a great position, I was leading the tournament for 71 holes. I just want to make sure I can put myself in this position as soon as possible again and try and correct what I did this time… There’s just no point in making it a negative for the future.”
Bradley’s win adds more intrigue to his Ryder Cup situation, with calls growing for him to select himself as a member of the 12-player American squad for the September showdown with Europe at Bethpage Black.
He is currently in ninth place in the standings, with six players automatically qualifying for the team and the other six being the captain’s choices.
“This changes the story a little bit,” Bradley, 39, said. “I never would have thought about playing if I hadn’t won. This definitely opens the door to play. I don’t know if I’m going to do it or not, but I certainly have to take a pretty hard look at what’s best for the team.”
