CASTLE ROCK — Mark Bradley gave up on scoreboard-watching and ventured out to play his own round of golf. There was no use sitting indoors and refreshing the leaderboard online once his son had finished his final round across the country.
In Memphis, Keegan Bradley needed to finish the day 50th or higher in the FedExCup points standings just to qualify for the next round the following week in Denver. He was teetering. In Wyoming, Mark checked his phone from the golf course and saw his son was No. 51. Keegan needed help.
He got it from his competitors. The next time Mark checked, his son was back in 50th. “Gee whiz,” he recalls telling his friend, Bernie Wirth.
“So we go the whole day — now we’re just checking and checking it. And it held. Once we realized Keegan made it, I looked at Bernie and said, ‘I’m going.’”
After years of bad luck, the Bradleys finally got the timing right in Denver. Bradley’s 50th-to-first triumph at the BMW Championship on Sunday was more sentimental than his six previous wins on the PGA Tour. This was the first time his dad had been with him to see it in person.
“I was on the bag when he won the Wyoming State Amateur,” Mark told The Denver Post on the 18th green at Castle Pines Golf Club, while Keegan cradled the trophy for photos nearby. “And then I was there for — I don’t know. That’s it.”
Keegan is from Woodstock, Vermont, but his dad became the club professional at Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club in 2005. Summers during college started with a three-day drive from St. John’s in New York City. Keegan worked at the club, played local tournaments and went fishing until it was time to haul his Ford Focus back east for the fall semester.
“It’s a special thing to win on the PGA Tour, and it’s something that you really have to cherish,” Keegan said Sunday. “And to have him here makes it that much more special.”
Mark is retired now, so he faced no obstacles planning an impromptu trip to Colorado. It wasn’t always that simple. Bailing on his club for three-day weekends was a luxury he could rarely afford. He used to make it to a handful of events every year, but never the ones that Keegan won.
He was in Jackson Hole all six times his son lifted a trophy, celebrating in silent solitude.
“I was working on Sunday of the PGA Championship (in 2011), and I had a special members event at the club,” Mark said. “So I just told everybody … ‘I’m not gonna be here when you get in (to the clubhouse). Get your scorecards turned in and signed and added up. I’m gonna go home and watch Keegan.’ I was home alone, watching it, and all the people in the tournament at the club were watching it there. And I guess it was a wild scene.”
He preferred to be on his own, standing in front of his TV, raising his arms in the air triumphantly. He didn’t say a word.
“No need to scream,” he said, “because there was no one there.”
It was an elusive dream to share that moment with his son. But Keegan’s PGA Championship was in 2011. He hasn’t won another major. Success on the PGA Tour is fickle. When he won the Zozo Championship in 2022, Mark missed it. When he won the Travelers Championship in 2023, Mark missed it.
Not this time. Father was with son for every step this week. And Keegan’s victory was relatively stress-free. First place was all but clinched after a remarkable five-iron shot to set up a birdie on the 17th hole. Even if the 18th was more of a nail-biter, Mark wouldn’t have been nervous.
“I stay way cool,” he said. “My dad was tough. He’d get nervous. He’d get mad. … When Keegan came along and my daughter, Madison, I just decided I’m gonna do it a different way. And that way was a little kinder, a little gentler, a little more, just: ‘Here’s a good grip.’ It never dawns on me to get mad. I’m blessed. I’m lucky. … I even make sure, if he stumbles, that I think about my posture as I’m walking along the fairway. And I’m not down here (hanging my head). I’m not kicking pine-combs like my dad. Whether (Keegan) sees that, I don’t know. But I’m not gonna change it.”
When Keegan potted one last easy putt Sunday, Mark raised his arms again to bask in the victory. This time, his son was mirroring the gesture back at him, not through a television screen, but in the flesh, waiting for an embrace.
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Originally Published: August 25, 2024 at 7:31 p.m.
