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Keegan Bradley birdied the 18th hole to take a one-shot lead over Australia’s Adam Scott heading into the final round of the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship on Sunday at Castle Pines in Colorado.
Surprise leader Bradley, who cracked the top 50 in the second FedEx Cup playoff event with his final round last week, shot a 2-under-par 70 after a tough round in windy conditions.
The 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain made six bogeys and seven birdies as he battled with Scott and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg at the top of the leaderboard.
“It was tough today. It was very windy, a lot of elevated tees were into the wind, which made it really tough,” Bradley said after sinking a nine-foot putt on the final hole to retake the solo lead.
“I played some brilliant golf but I also hit some terrible shots. I guess that’s the way the world works. But I’m proud of the way I fought in the end,” he said.
Bradley’s course was in danger of collapsing on the last nine holes, where he made three consecutive bogeys between the 11th and 13th.
But he bounced back with successive birdies and repeated after a bogey on the 16th.
Bradley’s status as Ryder Cup captain, despite being just 38 and an active member of the tour, prompted chants of “USA, USA” throughout the course.
and he says he has benefited from this support.
“It’s just incredible. To be the Ryder Cup captain is such an honour, and it carries the weight of the world, the United States, the players here.
“But when you feel the energy of the fans, it’s really special. I haven’t felt that since I played the Ryder Cup or the Presidents Cup, what I felt today. It was really cool,” he said.
Scott, who made his PGA Tour debut at Castle Pines 24 years ago, shot a 2-over-par 74 the day after his course-record-tying 63.
The Australian got off to a poor start, with a bogey on the first hole where he went out of bounds, a double bogey on the par-4 third and another bogey on the fourth.
But he finished with birdies on 16 and 17 and said his woes were due to his inability to adapt to the harder greens.
“I felt like I made a big deal out of it, and I didn’t feel like I did much wrong. A couple of drives weren’t quite right, and a three-putt, and all of a sudden I was chasing it,” he said.
“I really struggled today, especially on the greens. They were so different from yesterday, in terms of speed, firmness, appearance and everything. It felt like a different course, and I struggled with that for most of the round,” he added.
The Swedish pair of Aberg and Alex Noren were tied for third, two shots behind Bradley.
Aberg said he had to deal with nosebleeds due to the high altitude, and even had blood on his shirt at one point.
“A lot of things happened, I think. On the first hole, I had to deal with a little nosebleed on the fairway. But I felt like I was aggressive all day,” he said after his 71.
Noren, 42, who shot a 70, is seeking his first PGA Tour victory.
World number one Scottie Scheffler, the FedEx Cup leader, was 13 shots behind Bradley after finishing the round with a 2-over-par 74.
But second-place Xander Schauffele, the winner of two major titles this year, shot an impressive 67 to move to within five shots of the lead.
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