Hopkinton High School Grad Keegan Bradley Wins PGA Championship
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. (CBS/AP) -- Keegan Bradley, a 2004 graduate of Hopkinton High School, won the PGA Championship Sunday with an amazing comeback in regulation and then a three-hole playoff win over Jason Dufner at Atlanta Athletic Club.
Down by five strokes with three holes left in regulation, the 25-year-old PGA Tour rookie canned two straight birdies as Dufner bogeyed three holes in a row to leave them tied at 8-under 272.
In the playoff, Bradley won the first two holes to go 2-up.
Dufner made birdie at the tough finishing hole but it wasn't enough. Bradley tapped in from a foot away to claim the Wanamaker Trophy by a single stroke.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports
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He's the first golfer to win a major in his first attempt since Ben Curtis won in 2003.
Bradley, who earlier this year won the Byron Nelson in Texas, came into the week ranked 108th in the world.
"I do not take any credit," his high school coach Dick Bliss Told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Monday.
"Number one, he was taught from his dad and I just didn't want to mess him up. He was always under what we call the radar. He wasn't actually the best player on our golf team."
Bliss aid it's been "a joy" to watch him climb up the rankings on the PGA tour.
"I am just so excited at his success."
Keegan comes from a family of golfers. His father is a pro, and his aunt Pat Bradley, is a LPGA Hall of Famer. Keegan grew up in Middlebury, Vermont, but moved to Hopkinton for his senior year in high school.
His father was an assistant pro at Hopkinton Country Club.
Bliss coached Keegan's team to the state championship in 2003.
"He's not only a great golfer, and everyone knows that now, but he's a genuinely great person and I'm just happy for him. He deserves what he's been rewarded with right now," he told WBZ-TV.
"Dreams come true!"
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