How former PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley moved into contention at Sanderson Farms

Langston Newsome, Mississippi Clarion Ledger

October 1, 2022 at 7:35 PM·3 min read

The highlight of Keegan Bradley’s PGA Tour career came in 2011, when the Vermont native won the 93rd PGA Championship with a 8-under finish on the final day.

Bradley, 36, came into the Sanderson Farms Championship this week in search of his fifth PGA Tour victory and his first since the 2018 BMW Championship.

Bradley finished fourth in the 2020 Sanderson Farms Championship and was the leader in the clubhouse at the end of his third round behind an 8-under-par 72 on Saturday. Bradley, who is at 11-under 205 through 54 holes, had five consecutive birdies from hole 10 through 14 in a dominant stretch in the back nine at the Country Club of Jackson.

Later third-round finishers passed him but Bradley is in contention.

“Well that stretch there is gettable for sure,” Bradley said. “You've got a lot of wedges to a couple par-5s and a short par-3. You're able to really, I got on a roll there. I made a couple nice putts and then I hit a couple to tap-in, which was a lot of fun.”

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Bradley finished the second round at 1-under before catapulting to the top of the leaderboard. It all began with a late-night walkthrough with his coach Darren May following Friday’s 42.86% driving accuracy performance. It was the worst output of the first three rounds for Bradley, and Saturday's driving accuracy jumped to 64.29%.

“Today I hit more fairways,” Bradley said. “If you hit the fairway on this course, every hole you can score on. But the rough is so brutal that you cannot if you don't. Today was a better day for hitting fairways for me.

“I had a little session last night with my coach over FaceTime last night after my round, Darren May, and we got some stuff sorted out. But I'm going to go whack a few here and be even tighter today.”

Keegan Bradley hits his approach shot on the 18th hole on the third day of the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson on Saturday, October 1, 2002, in Jackson, Miss.

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Bradley finished at 15-under in 2020, four strokes behind winner Sergio Garcia, shooting 3-under in the final round. He missed the cut a year ago when Sam Burns narrowly edged Nick Watney and Cameron Young for a one-stroke victory.

Thomas Dertry and Mackenzie Hughes finished the second round at 10-under and had a solid chance to retake the lead Saturday. However, Bradley wasn't concerned with watching his competition or paying attention to scorecards following his round. He was focused on hitting a few practice balls before shutting things down to watch college football.

"Hopefully I'm around where I can sniff for this lead to hopefully contend for the tournament (Sunday)," Bradley said.

There is a certain familiarity with the course that Bradley hopes to carry into the final round if in contention.

“I do love this course,” Bradley said. "It's one of my favorites of the year. I love the way it's tree-lined. I like how there's a fairway out there and there's a green. There's not a lot of tricks to it, and the greens are perfect. I absolutely love this place. You can get on a run out here. If you're hitting the fairways, there's a lot of scoring opportunities.”

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How a late night helped Keegan Bradley into contention after Round 3

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