Keegan Bradley previously credited his putter as the biggest reason behind his impressive 2022-23 PGA Tour campaign.
“I’m putting way, way better. It’s a drastic difference,” Bradley told NESN.com at TPC River Highlands on Wednesday, one day before teeing it up in the first round of the 2023 Travelers Championship.
Well, it was that same flatstick which helped the New England native shoot 8-under par 62 and walk off the course in Cromwell, Conn. as the first-round leader after his morning round.
It even had Bradley bowing — yes, literally — to his putter, as seen after a 22-footer for birdie on the par-4 7th hole.
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“I don’t know, we bow to the putter,” Bradley told reporters Thursday of the makeshift routine, per a provided transcript. “When it’s working, that’s our God.”
It was working to the tune of nine first-round birdies. And it was never on display more than when Bradley dropped a 74-foot (!!) birdie putt on the par-4 17th hole. Bradley acknowledged how the ball hit the flagstick on that putt, and given the pace he hit it at, it provided both a helping hand and a “huge swing.”
“A lot of times on those putts you’re begging for it to hit the flag. It’ll just miss or bang off, and it just hit perfectly in the center and dropped down,” Bradley told reporters. “It was at least probably a two-shot swing. Instead of walking off that green at 6-under I’m 4-, maybe 3-.”
He had a comical reaction immediately after it dropped, too.
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After starting on the 10th tee, his putt on 17 helped make the turn at 6-under 29. He said it’s not his first sub-30 through nine holes, but it nevertheless was impressive. He opened his round — a tee time of 7:25 a.m. ET — with five consecutive birdies.
Bradley capped off his first nine holes with a hug from his son, too, making it all the more special for the graduate of Hopkinton High in Hopkinton, Mass., who recently purchased a home in the Boston area.
All in all, Bradley finished with nine birdies and one bogey (29-33 — 62), which came on the par-3 5th hole when he couldn’t get a par putt to drop after missing the green off the tee. He circled one around the rim of the cup on the par-4 4th hole just before, two putting with his first measuring some 52 feet away.
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Shane Lowry and Chez Reavie each entered the clubhouse at 6-under 64 shortly after Bradley concluded. He’ll begin his second round at 12:40 p.m. ET on Friday night.
Featured image via Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports Images
