INZAI CITY, Japan — It was worth the trip to Japan for Keegan Bradley, who won the Zozo Championship on Sunday with a final-round 2-under 68 to finish one shot ahead Rickie Fowler and Andrew Putnam for his first PGA Tour win in just over four years.
Bradley raised both arms to the sky and was tearing up after clinching the victory with a tap-in on the 18th. Thirty minutes later, he was still choking back tears.
“I’ve been crying since I finished,” Bradley said. “I can’t remember the last time I cried.”
He said he talked to his wife Jillian and his mother Kaye in the United States on FaceTime after securing the long-sought victory.
“I couldn’t keep things together. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” he said.
Bradley finished with a 15 under total of 265 at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on the outskirts of Tokyo, which hosts the only PGA Tour event in Japan.
He bogeyed two of the last five holes, but dropped a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th to give him a two-shot lead going into the 18th ahead of playing partners Fowler and Putnam.
“I realized if I made this putt I’d have a two-shot lead,” he said. ”And I just buried it. The perfect putt. It was meant to be and I’m proud of the way I handled that hole.
The birdie followed a bogey at 16 where he shanked a shot from the greenside bunker, but still got down with two putts to share the lead with Putnam. Fowler was one shot back.
“It’s not going to be easy, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Bradley said. “Things aren’t easy for me normally … I’ve never experienced emotions like this after a tournament.”
Bradley won the PGA Championship in 2011 for a fast start to his career. The rest has been more of a challenge.
“This (victory) is high up there,” he said. “I really put a lot of work in during this off season and this is what I want to do. I want to win tournaments. I want to play Ryder Cups. I want to be in the conversation and this is a good start.”
Bradley said he took a lesson from Tiger Woods after playing 36 holes with him at the 2019 event, which Woods won.
“To watch him win up close was spectacular,” Bradley said. “I was thinking about it the whole day today, just remembering Tiger, how he walked a little slower then. So I just tried to do that.”
Bradley’s last PGA Tour victory was in 2018 at the BMW Championship. This is his fifth Tour victory, and he won this one from the front.
“Of my five, I haven’t really won that many leading the entire day like I did today. I really learned a lot and I think I can take a lot of that going forward the rest of the year,” he said.
Fowler also has not won on the tour for more that three years, and Putnam is winless in four.
“Kind of bittersweet,” said Fowler, who led by one stroke after three rounds. “Obviously, I wanted to get the job done.”
“Final round,” he added. “I’ve haven’t been there a whole lot in the last couple of years.”
LIV GOLF
KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia — Brooks Koepka made birdie on the third playoff hole to beat Peter Uihlein and win the LIV Golf Invitational-Jeddah on Sunday for his first victory in the breakaway league.
Koepka birdied the par-5 18th in regulation for a 1-under 69, while Uihlein also made birdie on the final hole for a 70 to force a playoff. Joaquin Niemann (65) and Sergio Garcia (68) finished one shot behind.
Koepka won for the first time since early February 2021 at the Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour. He since has gone through various injuries and signed with LIV Golf in June.
Koepka won $4 million, along with an additional $750,000 for claiming the team competition. Uihlein is part of his team and earned $2.125 million for being runner-up, $750,000 for the team win and $4 million for finishing third in the season points race.
Branden Grace was second in the season race and got $8 million. Dustin Johnson clinched the race last week and received an $18 million bonus.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
CARY, N.C. — Fred Couples broke his age by three shots with the lowest round of his PGA Tour Champions career, a 12-under 60 that sent him to a six-shot victory Sunday in the SAS Championship for his first title in more than five years.
Couples was two shots behind after four holes when the 63-year-old went on a run that amazed even him. He ran off five straight birdies, made a key par on the 10th hole and then finished with seven straight birdies.
Couples won for the first time since the American Family Insurance Championship in 2017, and this was one he never saw coming. He started the tournament with a double bogey. He decided to use Griffin Flesch, the son of Steve Flesch, as his caddie.
He was two shots ahead of Jerry Kelly when he holed an 18-foot par putt. Kelly closed the gap to one with a birdie on the par-3 11th and then Couples took off. Kelly put his second shot on the par-5 12th in the water, while Couples two-putted for birdie.
That was the start of seven straight birdies to finish at 20-under 196 for his 14th career win on the PGA Tour Champions. Couples earned $315,000.
EUROPEAN TOUR
SOTOGRANDE, Spain — Adrián Otaegui closed with a 3-under 68 to win the Andalucia Masters by six shots on Sunday for his first home victory.
The Spaniard had four birdies and only one bogey, finishing at 19-under 265, breaking the record by seven shots at Valderrama.
Joakim Lagergren of Sweden (68) was second, three shots ahead of third-place Min Woo Lee of Australia (70). Lagergren started the week at No. 127 in the DP World Tour points race and moved into the top 50.
It was the fourth European tour title for Otaegui, who entered the final round with a comfortable six-shot lead and never gave anyone much of a chance.
OTHER TOURS
Lexi Thompson closed with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory on Saturday over Brooke Henderson and Madelene Sagstrom in the Aramco Team Series-New York on the Ladies European Tour. It was her first win on any tour since June 2019. … Jeremy Freiburghaus closed with a 6-under 66 and won with a par on the first playoff hole to beat Max Schmitt in the English Trophy. The victory moved Freiburghaus to the top of the Challenge Tour standings. … Paul Lawrie shot 8-under 65 and won with a birdie on the first playoff hole against Michael Jonzon in the Farmfoods European Senior Masters in Spain. … Stephen Ferreira won the Blue Label Challenge by one point over Luca Filippi in the modified Stableford competition on the Sunshine Tour. … Ayaka Furue closed with a 3-under 69 to hold off Akie Iwai and win the Fujitsu Ladies on the Japan LPGA. … Ga Young Lee won the Dongbu Construction Championship by five points over Jin Hee Im in the Korean LPGA’s modified Stableford tournament.
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