Captain Keegan ruined what looked like a sure career moment for Tommy Fleetwood on Sunday afternoon at TPC River Highlands.
Instead of Fleetwood picking up his inaugural PGA Tour victory, it was Keegan Bradley who came out on top at the Travelers Championship.
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Bradley, the United States captain for the upcoming Ryder Cup, stunned Fleetwood and birdied the final hole to grab a one-shot win at the Travelers Championship, the final signature event of the PGA Tour season. Bradley posted a 2-under 68 in his final round to pick up the victory.
Fleetwood dominated the field on Saturday to build a three-shot lead after the 54-hole mark. He hit every single fairway and posted a 7-under 63 in the third round. While Russell Henley posted a career-low 61 and Bradley matched Fleetwood’s number, Fleetwood still took his massive lead into the final round.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler struggled on Saturday, which was also his 29th birthday. Scheffler, who shared the lead at the midway point, opened his round with a triple bogey — which is something he’s never done throughout his PGA Tour career. He ended up posting a 72 on Saturday to fall nine shots back.
Fleetwood’s big lead, however, dissipated almost immediately on Sunday. He made three bogeys in his first four holes, though he limited his damage with a birdie in there at the second, and made the turn at 2-over on the day. Bradley matched him at 14-under at the halfway point of the round, thanks to a wild 64-footer from across the green for birdie at the ninth.
Bradley, though, couldn’t keep the momentum going. He bogeyed the very next hole to give Fleetwood his lead again, and then Fleetwood pushed that lead to two after sticking his drive at the par-3 11th within 15 feet. He birdied again two holes later after going up-and-down on the par-5 13th, too, which brought him back to even on the day. Both Bradley and Henley birdied that hole, however, so his lead remained at two strokes.
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But Fleetwood bogeyed again at the par-3 16th when his tee shot landed well past the green. That opened the door again for Bradley, who was suddenly just a shot back. Henley and Jason Day bogeyed, too, which pushed them out and made it a two-man race.
Fleetwood saved his par at the 17th, and then striped his drive at the final hole. But Bradley landed his approach on the 18th not even 6 feet from the cup.
Fleetwood, who landed just off the front side of the green, ended up three-putting for a bogey. He pushed an 8-footer just that would have saved his par and forced a playoff just to the right of the cup.
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Then, with the green cleared, Bradley sank his putt to secure the win.
“Of all the shots and all the putts I’ve hit, I think I’ll remember that one the most,” Bradley said on CBS.
Fleetwood entered this week at No. 17 in the Official World Golf Rankings. He’s missed just a single cut on Tour this season, which came last week at the U.S. Open, and he now has five top-10 finishes on the year. Fleetwood’s last win came at the Dubai Invitational last year on the DP World Tour, and he’s been a regular on the European Ryder Cup teams in recent years. He nearly picked up his first Tour win in 2023, too, though he fell to Nick Taylor in a playoff at the RBC Canadian Open. Fleetwood has 42 top-10 finishes on Tour, which is the most by any player without a win over the last four decades.
“I’m upset now,” Fleetwood said. “I’m angry. … Right now, I would love to just go and sulk somewhere, and maybe I will do [that]. But there’s just no point making it a negative for the future.”
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While it’s only a matter of time before Fleetwood joins the winner’s circle in the United States, that’s going to have to wait just a little bit longer.
Should Keegan Bradley be a playing captain at the Ryder Cup?
There are still a few months before the Ryder Cup kicks off this fall in New York, but Bradley might just be playing his way onto the team.
Bradley has now won eight times on the PGA Tour in his career. Sunday’s win marked his first of the season. He entered the week at No. 21 in the world rankings, and he’s now secured three top-10 finishes in his past four starts. Sunday’s win will push Bradley into the top 12 of the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, too.
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Though Bradley has a lot of work to do to grab one of the automatic spots — only the top six in the standings after the BMW Championship earn a bid — Bradley could very well pick himself with one of his captain’s picks. If he did that, he’d be the first playing captain at the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer did so in 1963. Tiger Woods was a playing captain for the United States in 2019, but that was at a Presidents Cup.
Bradley has said previously he’d only want to earn his way onto the team if he qualified automatically, but he avoided the question when asked on CBS on Sunday afternoon.
“Go USA,” Bradley said simply, pointing to the camera.
Though it won’t count on the scoreboard, Sunday’s win felt like an early point for the United States in the upcoming battle at Bethpage Black. Based on the scenes at the final green, whether Bradley’s playing or not, it was an incredible preview of what’s sure to come.
