After tying for 59th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, newly minted Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley had no idea if he would advance in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
He teetered around the 50th position in the standings, the threshold that sends the top 50 players to this week’s BMW Championship and, more importantly, to all eight Signature Events next season. It’s a big deal for PGA Tour pros, especially for Bradley, who has a massive job over the next 12 months.
“The top 50 is one of the most important numbers for us as players so we can play in these big tournaments and earn FedExCup points,” Bradley explained.
“I want to be with the guys and the Ryder Cup team. I want to be playing with them, on the range with them, in the locker room, in the tournament.”
Tom Kim’s heartbreaking collapse over the final three holes on Sunday sent him packing for the season while it gave Bradley life. Next year’s captain made the top 50 on the number despite playing poorly in Memphis.
“Sunday afternoon was one of the toughest afternoons of my PGA Tour career. It was really brutal,” Bradley said.
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“I had the FedExCup standings, the coverage on, the featured holes, my phone. I had it all going. But it was tough.”
Bradley then flew out to Colorado on Monday. As soon as he got to Castle Pines, Bradley began to work on dialing in his numbers and growing accustomed to the altitude. In doing so, he felt a feeling of tranquility fall over him.
“It’s such a relief to be here. I just felt a lot calmer today,” Bradley said.
“But I played really, really well.”
Indeed, Bradley fired a 6-under 66 on Thursday, a round that featured six birdies and no bogies. He led the field in strokes gained approaching the green, which historically has not been his strong suit. Finding fairways always helps with finding greens, though. One always leads to another, as Bradley found the short grass 12-of-14 times on Thursday. He then hit 16-of-18 greens in regulation, ranking first among the field during round one.
“You have to put the ball in the fairway on this course,” Bradley said.
“If you put the ball in the fairway, you’re going to have a lot of scoring clubs. You’ve got to have a good grasp on your numbers with the altitude. We did a good job of that today. You’ve just got to hit as many fairways as you can.”
Should Bradley continue to play well, he will undoubtedly make it to Atlanta for the Tour Championship. Only the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings make it to East Lake. But he has 54 holes between now and then.
Then again, Bradley has already achieved his goal—just being here in the first place.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.