While the Bostonians might be disappointed with the result of the Celtics’ loss to the Warriors, they might still find joy from Keegan Bradley at the 2022 U.S. Open. He was walking down the 18th fairway at The Country Club on Saturday with fans chanting his name.
Bradley was a local guy, but he might get his chance to make his own legendary Boston sports memory by winning the 2022 U.S. Open. The 36-year-old golfer will have another round on Sunday afternoon.
Bradley’s response to the fans’ chant
With the crowd showing some support and calling out his name, Bradley couldn’t be more delighted with that moment. He was a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, but he admitted that the walk-up 18 was the best he had ever felt at a tournament.
“As a kid, I dream of playing in front of Boston fans and being a Patriot or being in the Garden,” Bradley said. He eventually made his dream come true. As he was playing across the world most of the time, playing in front of the Boston crowds made him feel like he was at a home game.
“Honestly, it was one of the most amazing moments of my entire life,” he said. “I got to feel what it feels like to play in Fenway, in the Garden, and in Gillette Stadium. I felt like a Boston player there,” he explained while noting that the Boston crowds were the “best” in the world.
Memorable game on Saturday
Bradley didn’t have a good start in the third round as he bogeyed three of the first six holes to fall back to 2-over par. However, the 2011 PGA champion wouldn’t let it bother him. Bradley finally found his game and came up on No. 9 where he made his approach to 12 feet and made the putt.
Hometown hero @Keegan_Bradley in the @usopengolf mix. pic.twitter.com/XyvjnDacpT
— Golf Central (@GolfCentral) June 18, 2022
The crowd went wild for him shortly after that, and Bradley captured the big energy from them. “I made this putt on 9 today, and the crowd went crazy. “It really gave me a jolt of energy,” Bradley explained.
“It put me on a path to, ‘All right, we no longer are trying to save this round. Let’s try to get ourselves into contention here,’ and I did that.”
Bradley then made another bogey on No. 10, and birdied the 13th, 14th, and 17th holes. With this record, Bradley became one of just seven golfers to shoot below par in a less-than-ideal weather condition.
Bradley’s records
It was 2011 when he first joined the PGA Tour and earned his early success when he won the 2011 PGA Championship. Bradley even got the Rookie of the Year title for his achievement.
With such an impressive win, Bradley made a quick trip to the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams. Bradley then competed in 165 tournaments from 2012 to 2008 but did not win any of them.
He made a comeback when he won the BMW Championship with better form. His world ranking also went back to 47th. Bradley is now looking forward to a good performance at this season’s U.S. Open.
“It’s going to be intense, but I’ve had this weird sense of calm over me this week. … I just have to try to just put one foot in front of the other and all the silly clichés we all say,” he said.