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Keegan Bradley overtakes Tommy Fleetwood, wins 2025 Travelers Championship on final hole

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on

Published in Golf

CROMWELL, Conn. – Tommy Fleetwood left the door open for just too long in the final round at the Travelers Championship on Sunday.

Walking down the 18th fairway, staring into tens of thousands of spectators who lined the perimeter ready to watch what would’ve been his first-ever PGA Tour win, the Englishman came up short of the green with his shot from the fairway. He saw Keegan Bradley, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain on his tail all afternoon, stick his approach shot five-feet, eight-inches from the hole, and he heard the roar that followed for the New England native.

At that point, momentum swung drastically.

Fleetwood gave himself a chance at par to potentially force a playoff finish for the second year in row, but his 8-foot putt rolled an inch right of the hole.

Bradley stepped up from almost the same spot and sank birdie to complete a comeback and secure his second win at The Travelers in three years. He is only the eighth player to ever win the event multiple times, and this time he didn’t need a record-low week (like his 23-under in 2023) to do so.

Bradley’s rollercoaster of a final round – five birdies, three bogeys – resulted in a 68 as he finished 15-under through 72 holes to claim the $3.6 million share of the prize pool and 700 FedExCup points.

“Really, really crazy,” the 39-year-old Vermont native said. “I felt like I was just too far behind the whole day. I was just chasing, chasing. And then after that bogey on 15, I just – you know, thought ‘I don’t know, anything can happen around here.’ I just had that feeling that I was just too far behind the whole day, but I came in here and made the putts when I needed to.”

For Fleetwood, it was his 42nd top-10 finish on the PGA Tour without a win, more than any player since 1983. And he entered the final round with a three-shot lead.

 

Fleetwood bogeyed No. 1, 3 and 4, falling into a tie with Bradley through four holes. He held steady and maintained his spot atop the leaderboard as it shifted below him for the next 11 holes, but did himself in with bogeys on No. 16 and 18 while Bradley picked up a stroke with a 36-foot birdie putt on No. 15 and answered the call of the crowd in his dramatic finish.

“Search goes on, I guess,” Fleetwood said. “When (the first win) happens it will be very, very sweet. I don’t know, really. I said yesterday, and I know I keep saying it but I haven’t really been in a position where I’ve really been in contention to really worry about when my win might come. Today was one of those days, led for 71 holes and it didn’t happen. But, you know, like in my mind, yeah, I’ve won loads of PGA Tour events, I just haven’t done it in reality and I’m sure that time will come if I keep working.”

Russell Henley, tied with Bradley at 13-under coming into the round, holed-out from 51 feet for a birdie of his own on the final hole, which ultimately landed him in a second place tie with Fleetwood at 14-under. Harris English, whose 2021 playoff victory flashed over the broadcast before yet another dramatic finish, finished tied for fourth with Jason Day at 13-under.

Scottie Scheffler, who won in playoff fashion in 2024, finished on the outside looking in as he and Rory McIlroy, the top two golfers in the world, tied for sixth at 12-under. Justin Thomas, who was tied with Scheffler and Fleetwood for the 36-hole lead, never recovered from his quadruple-bogey 9 on the 13th hole during Saturday’s third round and finished in a tie for ninth at 9-under 271.

Bradley didn’t lead in the tournament until the final hole. But the former champion was able to take advantage of the conditions on Day One, manage the windy second round at even-par and make every shot he needed to over the weekend – including a 64-foot putt for birdie on No. 9 in the final round.

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