GOLF DIGEST
Bradley Motivated Again
By Tim Rosaforte
A familiar face on my TV screen in the middle of the night last week from Kuala Lampur, playing the type of golf he did when he was winning the 2011 PGA Championship in his major debut and backing it up with a WGC-Bridgestone victory in 2012.
Five winless years later, Keegan Bradley is 31 years old and expecting his first child with wife Jillian next month.
The kid from St. John’s who partnered with Phil Mickelson in a high-energy Ryder Cup performance at Medinah is at different stage of his life and career than some of the younger guys who are his neighbors in the Jupiter corridor. But that doesn’t mean his desire has waned.
Besides the incoming baby, there are two other recent motivations that led to Bradley to shooting 20 under at the CIMB Classic for a second place showing behind runaway winner Pat Perez.
Coming off his best finish since the 2014 Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bradley told me while boarding a charter to South Korea for this week’s CJ Cup that he wants to start making Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams again.
He and Mickelson chat about what it’s like. He wants to feel some of that team energy, too. Moreover, there was the impressive win by best friend Brendan Steele in the Safeway Open, a performance that had Keegan glued to the television after a missed cut. “He played flawlessly,” Bradley said. “I’ve never seen him play better. He brought a new level to his game and any time you see a friend you play with a lot playing like that, it only gives you motivation. You know you can do it as well.”