Keegan Bradley counting on good vibes from record final round at Bay Hill to continue the rest of the year

ORLANDO — Keegan Bradley said that his game felt on point throughout the week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. On Sunday, he posted a score to prove it.

Thanks to a record seven-under 29 on the opening nine, Bradley tied the low round of the tournament with an eight-under 64 at Bay Hill Club. Expected winds never materialized, and the greens were kinder and gentler than expected, and the U.S. Ryder Cup captain took advantage after shooting himself out of contention the day before with a third-round 76.

“I played like this all week. I had three doubles yesterday. Other than those three holes, I got a really … I would have, you know, take away those three, I know that's easy to say, but like, I could have won this tournament,” Bradley said after shooting up the leaderboard to finish at seven-under 281 total.

Ranked 16th in the world, Bradley didn’t know that he had broken the previous front-nine record of 30 held by six men, including, most recently, Rory McIlroy in 2016. But he was starting to do the math in his head.

“I figured, I was walking off nine trying to figure out what I, if I did shoot 29, and I was pretty sure I did, but it was exciting,” he said. “I hit a terrible drive on nine and, like, terrible. And it rolled up and I had 102 yards straight looking at the flag. Like, sometimes you get good breaks and that's what happens.”

The key stretch of his assault on Bay Hill started when he pitched in for eagle at the par-5 sixth hole from 73 yards. He birdied the next three holes from, respectively, two feet, four feet and two feet again. Then he rolled in a fourth straight birdie on the par-4 10th from nine feet and he stood eight under through 10 holes.

By then, he was thinking about how to catch the leaders.

“I thought after my birdie on eight and I got to whatever it was, six, seven under. I was expecting the wind to pick up. It hasn't really,” said Bradley, 38. “But I sort of had 10 in my mind. I thought, ‘Geez, if I can shoot four under on the back and get to 10 [under], I think I would have a really good chance of winning.’ I thought that and made two good birdies after that. I played really nicely. I only hit one bad shot on 14. But other than that, it was really good.”

Bradley bogeyed the 14th, a par 3, his only blemish of the day, but was able to erase it at the par-5 16th hole with his last birdie. He tied his low score at Bay Hill from his third round in 2021. He almost certainly was poised for his best finish in the event since he was runner-up in 2014.

Coming as it did in the final round of a $20 million signature event, the round seemed to mean more to the former PGA champion than any other at Bay Hill. It was definitely going to be worth more—in a couple of ways. Namely, cash and confidence.

“This was really something that I'll remember forever,” said Bradley, whose other cherished memory at this event came in his debut in 2011 when he was paired with Sam Saunders, Arnold Palmer’s grandson, and Palmer followed along to watch.

“Like I've been saying all week, I think this is the toughest course we play all year, and to do it on Sunday under these conditions feels good,” he said. “I can take this with me the rest of the year.”