The last man in the field at the onset of the week is the last man standing at the end of it. Keegan Bradley emerged from an eclectic leaderboard Sunday at Castle Pines to grab his seventh PGA Tour victory and his second BMW Championship crown. Signing for a final-round 72, Bradley converted his one-stroke lead at the 54-hole mark into a one-stroke victory over Ludvig Åberg, Sam Burns and Adam Scott at 12 under.
After going winless for four years, Bradley has collected three trophies in his last 44 starts with this one coming at the most ideal of times. Entering the tournament at No. 50 in the FedEx Cup, Bradley now jumps to fourth in the season-long race and will begin his tournament in Atlanta at 6 under behind only Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama.
"It just shows why you've got to grind it out every week because you never know how fast this can switch," Bradley said. "Now, I go to Atlanta with a chance to win the FedEx Cup. I can't believe it. I'm so excited."
Bradley, who was tapped to serve as an assistant captain at Royal Montreal, now gives U.S. Presidents Cup captain Jim Furyk plenty to think about in terms of his services and whether a role as a player may be a better fit. Should Furyk select Bradley, it would mark his first stint in a team competition since the 2014 Ryder Cup.
After holding his eighth first-round lead of his PGA Tour career, Bradley fell one spot on the leaderboard entering the weekend. An up-and-down back nine to close his Moving Day was enough to regain the outright lead over his fellow veteran, Scott.
Paired together for the second straight day, the two came out firing as Bradley threw a nifty wedge from 90 yards in tight for an opening birdie while the Australian connected from outside 40 feet for eagle to pull all square. Fireworks appeared inevitable, but Castle Pines had a say in the matter as firm and fast conditions posed problems for players.
Bradley and Scott remained tied heading into the back nine before Scott filed three straight bogeys on his scorecard to begin the inward half. With Sam Burns surging up ahead signing for a final-round 65 to post the clubhouse lead at 11 under, Bradley possessed a two-stroke lead with six holes to play.
Åberg appeared likely to threaten but an ill-timed mistake on the par-5 14th turned a surefire birdie into a bogey instead. It proved to be a critical difference in the end as the young Swede scored birdies on Nos. 15 and 17 only to fall just short. Scott still had his chance, but when Bradley opened the door on the par-4 15th, he slipped as well.
Matching bogeys on No. 15 all but spelled the end for Scott despite a late birdie on the par-5 17th and a glimmer of hope shining on the final hole. Bradley's own birdie on No. 17 gave him enough breathing room to bogey the last hole and become just the third U.S. Ryder Cup captain to win after being appointed, joining Jack Nicklaus in 1986 and Davis Love III in 2015.
"I was shaking over that last putt," Bradley said. "I was ready for those cheers. We did it, it was a battle all day." Grade: A+
Here are the grades for the rest of the notables on the leaderboard at the 2024 BMW Championship.
T2. Adam Scott (-11): What could have been for Scott? After entering the final nine holes atop the leaderboard alongside Bradley, the 44-year-old lost his touch on the greens. Missing countless short putts at crucial junctions in the tournament, Scott still had a chance on the 72nd hole to win his 15th PGA Tour event. Although from a longer distance, Scott's birdie bid on the last was for not and meant a runner-up finish for the second time in his last four starts. The good news is he jumps from outside the top 40 to inside the top 15 in the FedEx Cup. Grade: A
T2. Ludvig Aberg (-11): After a T4 at the Scottish Open, Aberg had done basically nothing until this week so it was nice to see him get back into contention. It wasn't just the contention, either, but also how he did it. Aberg's all-around game was tremendous and he finished in the top 10 from tee to green in one of the more talented fields of the year at a venue where several stars (like Scottie Scheffler) struggled quite a bit. Now inside the top six in the FedEx standings, it would be a pretty wild outcome if Aberg was able to chase down Scheffler and Xander Schauffele to win the FedEx Cup and $25 million next week. Grade: A
T33. Scottie Scheffler (+1): This week was about as frustrated as Scheffler has seemed all season. It was also just the third event in 2024 in which he's finished outside the top 10. Yes, the top 10. That part is remarkable, for sure, but even more shocking was that Scheffler lost shots to the field from tee to green on the week at Castle Pines. The last time that happened was at the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, almost two and a half years ago. The good news for Scheffler is that he didn't lose his hold on the No. 1 spot in the FedEx Cup. Grade: D-
T39. Justin Thomas (+2): J.T. flirted with the 30-player cutoff line all day on Sunday and looked to have fallen on the wrong side of it before an implosion by Alex Noren in the penultimate group. It was disappointing that it came down to this given that Thomas was comfortably inside the top 25 going into the week but played his first three rounds in 6 over and didn't break par in any of his rounds. It was a terrible run of play at a bad time for Thomas, but he reaches East Lake for the eighth time in the last nine seasons after missing the playoffs entirely a year ago. Grade: D
Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter, Patrick McDonald and Greg DuCharme recap the 2024 BMW Championship at Castle Pines. Plus, Lydia Ko's victory at St. Andrews and Presidents Cup automatic qualifiers. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.