PGA Championship Final Thoughts: Golf’s newest American star Keegan Bradley Wins in a playoff.

Maybe American golf is going to be alright after all. 2 Americans Keegan Bradley and Jason Dufner put on quite a show in the year’s final golf major. Maybe they weren’t the most recognizable names, but if you are a golf fan it was a lot of fun to watch. US Golf has been waiting on its next great star. Would it be Dustin Johnson? Rickie Fowler? Maybe Anthony Kim?

Nope, it’s 25 year old Keegan Bradley who made an epic comeback with 3 holes left after a triple bogey 6 at 15. He birdied the next two holes, to get in a playoff with Jason Dufner. He then won the 3 hole playoff by a stroke over Dufner. I don’t know what the future will hold for Dufner, but I hope he isn’t put in the same sentence with the Jean Van de Velde. Dufner didn’t choke; Bradley just played incredible to win the tournament.

• A few more words about Bradley, and why not. All these pros who talk about how tough it is to win a major, Keegan Bradley goes out and wins his in the first major he played in. Well they are really tough to win actually. He’s the first American to win a major since his mentor Phil Mickelson won the 2010 Masters. American newest sensation won’t be a one-hit wonder. He’s already a 2 time winner on tour this season.
• You can’t discuss this tournament without mentioning Tiger Woods. Woods failed to make the cut after finishing his first two rounds +10, and he played horribly. He hit it left, right, in the bunkers, and in the water. His game is a complete mess. He’ll be 36 next year, hardly the end of a golfer’s career, but he’ll be an old 36 struggling to stay healthy and confident while re-tooling a swing, that looks light years away from being right. Not only do I think he won’t break Nicklaus’s record he won’t even threaten it at this point. I still give him 1 maybe 2 more major wins when he catches lightning in a bottle but no more. Have you ever seen an athlete at the top of his game decline so fast as Woods did?
• Score one for a couple of veterans David Toms and Scott Verplank. Toms and Verplank were two 40something guys that prove you don’t have to hit it a mile to contend in a major as they both finished 4th. With 42 year old Darren Clarke winning the British Open last month, let’s not write the older fellas off just yet.
• Phil Mickelson finished T19. Mickelson didn’t play poorly, but his short putting and crooked driving were again his Achilles heel. The game is slipping ever so slightly, but as I said in the previous statement, the older guys can still play. At 41 Phil’s not done, Mickelson is still 5th on the money list, 5th in the Fed Ex Points, and ranked 6th in the World.
• Lee Westwood finished in the top 10 of a major… again. I’m not sure I can think of another player in the last 20 years, maybe Colin Montgomerie, who has played better in majors to never win one. We’ve talked about veterans already. Westwood is 38, there’s still time, but the scar tissue is building.
• Adam Scott a week after winning at Firestone, finished a solid 7th. His partnership with Stevie Williams is so far so good, and no there weren’t any comments from Williams on Tiger Woods thankfully. One week of that was enough. It will be interesting if Scott can eventually cash in on his immense talent and win a major soon. He’s on the short list of players to watch for next year.
• Rory Mcilory was basically finished after hurting his wrist in round 1 and ended up T64 +11. This week just wasn’t meant to be for him.