Keegan Bradley on playoffs: Never know what can happen you just have to get in

Keegan Bradley joins Golf Today live from the Wyndham Championship where he's set to tee off with Brooks Koepka and Bud Cauley on Thursday.

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Keegan Bradley joins us now from the Wyndham Championship.

Keegan, thanks for the time today.

Your season has been a lot of consistency, I suppose, not a lot of contention, but you've only missed one cut in your last 14 starts out there.

Where do you feel as though your game is right now?

To be honest with you, it's really good.

I, last week I played, really, really nice.

I've been playing well since about the Players.

I'm not sure where that missed cut, like, where that started, but I been playing really consistently and, you know, really it's been one round in the four that, you know, has been setting me back from being in contention.

But, you know, I feel pretty good.

It's- it's tough to- to not have the good finishes, but never know.

Could be this week.

Well, your stats seem to- to echo what you say.

They're not that different from a year ago, but an outsider might say, "Well, maybe he's having a little bit of a Ryder Cup hangover," considering the heart and soul that you put into that event.

Would they be wrong to think that?

Yeah.

I mean, you know, truthfully, the start of the year, I- I just wasn't I mean, I was ready to play physically.

I was practicing the same and getting ready, but I was still It was- it was a tough time.

And, you know, r- as of recently, I've been feeling a lot better.

It's fun to get back into the Presidents Cup, you know, get- we're back into the team, sorta talking about the team and getting back into that mode.

But yeah, it was a struggle.

I- I was in a- it was in a tough spot, to start the year and after the Ryder Cup and, you know, I started to get back into what I love to do these past couple months.

Can you approach this week, Keegan, as you would most other weeks?

Because I know when you go out there that the aim is to win and leave with a trophy at the end of the week, but this week, you know, a victory could just simply be making it to next week.

Are you able to take that kind of granular approach to it?

Yeah, no, it- it feels different.

You know, the I was really nervous on my f- final round last week.

It was a very important round.

I'm trying to really try to enjoy this in a- in a weird way.

I- I've never been in this position where I have to play well to make the playoffs, and it's kinda been fun to see, like, let's see if we can do this.

Let's see if we can accept the challenge.

And I think if I can go ahead and do this this week, it'll be one of the proudest things I've done in my career, to be honest, to- to fight through this and- and get there.

And once you get in the playoffs, you know, the points are so big.

Y- I mean, I- I proved it at, BMW.

You just gotta get in, and you never know what can happen.

Well, speaking of challenges, you turned 40 back in June.

But when you broke into the PGA Tour, there were some great 40-somethings like Vijay Singh hanging around, and not just hanging around, but playing well.

Kenny Perry played very well into his 40s.

How did you approach turning 40?

Well, I think Haven't had a ton of time to think about it, but, you know, this- this off-season I'm- I'm taking a much different approach to what I normally do in the off-season.

I'm gonna focus a little bit more on my body and trying to get that in a- in a better spot.

I feel great, to be honest with you, but I wanna get stronger.

I wanna get more fit.

I wanna be able to I really wanna go out there and have a great season next year.

I really I, I- that's- that's gonna be an important year for me.

I wanna go out there and I wanna try to make this Ryder Cup team.

I wanna go out there and- and try to play my best, and I still feel like I got a lot of great golf left in me.

Yesterday we had Michael Thorbjornsen on the show, Keegan, who's of course your teammate at the Boston Common TGL team, and he talked about how there was value to him in being welcomed and having an arm thrown around him by guys like you and Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy.

Did that work in reverse for you guys as well?

Does it fire you up a little bit when you're around a kid like that who has so much runway ahead of him?

Yeah.

You know what's really fun about TGL is, you know, when I go out and play with Michael or Rory or Adam in the- in the real golf, I'm not really watching what they're doing.

I'm not, like, paying attention really to their shots and how they're hitting them.

But in TGL, you know, I'm three feet behind Rory, I'm three feet behind Michael in practice, and I'm watching them hit shots and watching their ball and watching what they do.

And when you're that close to a player like Michael, it is stunning how good he is.

It- it You know, I'm- we've all been waiting for this win.

You know, I- I really had him as a, you know, outsider to make the Ryder Cup team last year, and I'm super proud of him.

And the thing that's a misconception about TGL is that place is a pressure cooker.

And n- you know, it's not what we do out here, but when you're in there, it is stressful.

And for- to watch a guy like Michael just hop in there and play like that, I think that was a sign of things to come.

Well, speaking of pressure, you know, Jackson Koywon spent a couple of days with you at the Rocket.

He won his first PGA Tour event in his third start since turning professional.

What impressed you about young Jackson Koywon, who quietly on social media has been getting a lot of positive buzz for potentially being on the Presidents Cup team?

I mean, everything impressed me.

I think what impressed me the most was his poise and his Just- just in talking to him and like just, you know, seeing maturity and You get I mean, even just when I was out there playing with him, the things the crowd are yelling to him are pretty intense.

Like, you know, stuff like, "You're gonna be an all-time great," or stuff like that.

Like, th- these people are expecting so much of him.

And to see him handle that like that, I mean, I remember when I was a young player playing with captains and just being terrified.

And he just goes out there and does his thing, and I don't see any weakness in his game.

I think he's a really great player and for sure gonna help our teams, whether it's this year or the years coming forward.

Damon referenced a lot of that chatter that's out there, certainly on social media, directed towards Brandt Snedeker about Jackson Koywon, Michael Thorbjornsen as potential Presidents Cup guys.

You've had that kind of lobbying thrown your way in the past as well, Keegan.

How do you filter it out, or do you pay, or should he pay any attention to that at all?

Well, I think if I'm him, you know, he's got a job to do, and that's to get through and make the playoffs.

I think that's really important.

It's something he wants to do.

And you know, I think this- Jackson Kovin, I think he actually sort of thrives on this sort of attention and this pressure.

I mean, he To watch him just go out after he won, and it's so difficult to play after you win.

I'm, I'm so impressed with guys that play well right after they win, 'cause it's so draining, especially after your first win.

And he just went out there, he seemed totally fine.

And I think, you know, for a guy like him, he invites the uncomfortableness of making this team.

And I think for us, you know, we, we, we need these younger guys to come in and make these teams and, and bring new life in and, and hopefully, you know, win points for us in the future.

Keegan, you're one of those guys on the PGA Tour who can actually hold a conversation about the AL East and a pennant chase, or a Super Bowl run by the Patriots.

In that vein, your thoughts about the new PGA Tour competitive structure in 2028, championship series, challengers series.

Your thoughts on what's coming to the PGA Tour.

Well, I think what makes the PGA Tour, I think what makes golf in general really great is, like, you have to go out and earn it every year.

You're, you're not signing a, you know, a three-year contract at a basketball team, and no matter what you do, you're gonna be on that team and make the money and blah, blah, blah.

You know, golf has always been a prove-it sport, where you gotta go out there.

You know, look, I, I've been in the top 50 the last, you know, handful of years.

Now all of a sudden I'm outside.

Now I'm on the outside looking in at a lot of these tournaments, one year later.

And that's the way golf is.

And n- I think the PGA Tour, you know, in the future is gonna really be that.

And you better be a good player.

You better be ready to play every year.

And I think that's what makes golf great, and I think that's what makes the PGA Tour great.

Keegan, you're obviously gonna be very close with Brandt Snedeker as he works through the, the President's Cup, as part of his, his backroom team.

Is that an awkward experience when you've just been the Ryder Cup captain, or do you feel as though you, you have to go out of your way to defer to the guy who is wearing the captain's hat this time around?

Yeah, I mean, I'm very conscious of that.

But Brandt and I are, are so close that, you know, I relied heavily on him last year.

He's gonna rely heavily on me.

We learned a lot together, good and bad.

And, you know, he knows that I'm the We, we know, we knew these last two years.

Yeah.

There is nobody that I'd rather want next to me than Brandt, and nobody that I would hope that he would want next to him than me.

None of us want credit.

None of us want, you know, the spotlight.

All we want is for the guys to be put in the right position to win the President's Cup.

And, you know, watching Brandt be the captain has been so fun because he's so good at it.

And he's such a good guy, and he, he has a, a great way of s- communicating with the players.

You know, it's different for me and Brandt to be captain r- rather than a, you know, Hall of Fame player.

We have to, to go about this a little differently, and he's done an incredible job so far.

Keegan, we always appreciate a few minutes with you in good times and in tough times as well.

Wish you the best of luck this week at the Wyndham.

Thanks so much, pal.

Thanks, boys

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