CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Keegan Bradley is still adjusting to his new title as US Ryder Cup captain. He still feels like a player who should be competing to win and think about playing in games.
He certainly looked the part on Saturday at the BMW Championship, when he heard the occasional “USA! USA!” joy as he breezed through Castle Pines with a wild round of 2-under 70 that put him one shot ahead of Adam Scott.
“To be named Ryder Cup captain and be a full-time player is amazing,” said Bradley, who at 38 is the youngest American captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. I do everything I can. The only thing I can continue to do is play my best golf and maybe play my way into some of these teams. “
The victory would make him the first captain to win on the PGA Tour since Davis Love III was 51 when he won the 2015 Wyndham Championship. It will also move Bradley to number 11 in the world rankings.
One round, but that may sound like a long shot considering Saturday’s development.
Bradley had eight birdies and still only shot 70, a round that featured three straight birdies on the front, three straight bogeys on the back and four birdies over his last five holes (the exception was a bogey on the par-3 16th). He was 12-under 204.
It was like that for almost everyone.
Scott hit one shot out of bounds and one in the water after just three holes and had to rally at the end to limit the damage to a 74, leaving him just one shot behind.
“I felt like I ate that, and I didn’t feel like I made that much of a mistake — a couple of drives that were really bad, and a three-putt, and all of a sudden I was out.” I’m in a hurry,” said Scott. “I’m in a good place to finally be one back.”
Ludvig Åberg started his day with a nosebleed at altitude. He wiped away the blood and drained a 50-foot birdie putt on the first tee. The super Swede went from losing four shots to three shots after just five holes. And then he made two straight bogeys, hit a tee shot into the water on the par-3 11th for a double bogey, and three holes later had an eagle. He shot a 71 and two shots behind.
Aberg was tied with fellow Swede Alex Noren, who shot six shots behind at the same time and closed with three straight birdies, the last from 35 feet across the 18th green for 70.
Most talked about on this windy day in the miles high wind was Xander Schauffele. When told Friday how rare it was to see his or Scottie Scheffler’s name among the top 20 on the leaderboard, Schauffele smiled and said, “Give it another day. One of us will be there.”
It was him. He started the weekend 11 shots behind. He had a 67 — despite his two-over card — and entered Sunday four shots behind. So did Denver native and former US Open champion Wyndham Clark, who had a recent eagle 69.
Still not immune to Bradley, Scott and Noren is a trip to East Lake next week for the Tour Championship. The top 30 advance to the FedEx Cup finals for a chance at a $25 million prize.
The trio were all outside the 40 heading into Castle Pines. Bradley was the last man to enter the 50-man field for the BMW Championship. A win would put him at number 4. But if he regresses too much, he could drop out of the top 30.
Scott and Noren aren’t out of the woods yet.
All are thinking more about the trophies at stake Sunday — one from the BMW Championship, one from the Western Golf Association, which has been running the top-level tournament for 125 years.
Scott had three shots to start the third round and it went quickly. He sent his opening shot well to the right, over three and over the white posts out of bounds. He had to run for bogey.
Two holes later, he took an aggressive line off the tee and was a few yards short of where he needed to be. He could see the ball hitting the lake from the waist, and the three-putt from 20 feet added to the double bogey. A bogey followed from the bunker on the next hole, and the Australian was reeling.
He didn’t make a birdie until the 11th hole, and hit another tee shot out-of-bounds on the par-5 14th where he again claimed bogey. All that and he was only one behind and in the last group.
The 48 players — Hideki Matsuyama withdrew on Friday, Robert MacIntyre on Saturday, both citing issues below — combined to make 22 double bogeys, two triple bogeys and one quadruple bogey in winds that never really let up.
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