You cannot possibly start your major championship career any better than Keegan Bradley did in 2011.
That year, playing in his first major, Bradley defeated Jason Day in a playoff to capture the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club.
“After the PGA, my mom and sister were there, and I remember my agent, Ben was there, and I remember driving out of the Atlanta Athletic Club with the Wanamaker in my lap, holding it, and we were looking at each other like, this is crazy. Like I was holding it,” Bradley said on Monday.
“I took the trophy and put it right next to my bed. I remember waking up in the morning and looking at it, like this is crazy. I can't believe this.”
That was Bradley’s second career victory. Since then, he’s played on two U.S. Ryder Cup teams in 2012 and 2014, captained the U.S. team in the 2025 Ryder Cup and has racked up six more PGA Tour victories, including the 2018 BMW Championship contested at Aronimink.
“That was a major moment in my career,” said Bradley, who has PGA Tour wins in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. “I never knew if I would win again on Tour and I get to win for the first time in five or six years and the first time I got to win with my family here. My son, Logan, was a little baby, and they ran out on the green. So it was a dream for me since I was a little kid to be able to experience that. And to win at an amazing course like this is really, really extra special.”
While Bradley can certainly draw off his past success at Aronimink this week, he was quick to explain it’s not quite the same as it was eight years ago.
“When we played here last time it was so wet,” he said. “It's not going to play like that. It actually made some of the shots in difficult because of how soft the greens were, come spinning off. Totally different. Who knows, the weather looks like it's getting better.
They’ve added a few tees. They made a lot of the finishing holes a lot harder. Eighteen was already difficult and they added 30, 40 yards there; same with 17 and 15. Seems like they have made a lot of the harder holes even harder but it's just an amazing venue for a PGA Championship.”
Bradley hasn’t denied that the U.S. Ryder Cup loss at Bethpage Black last September profoundly impacted him. While he’s not over that loss, he did say he’s starting to feel better and that’s been reflective in his results.
Bradley enters this week’s PGA Championship – his 16th overall – coming off a T19 in the Truist Championship last week, his second top 20 in the last three starts.
“The last couple months, I've started to feel more like myself. I've gotten -- sometimes I'm a little too honest with how I'm feeling and it gets me in some weird spots,” he said.
“It was tough after the Ryder Cup and is it still is. I'll be driving down the road and things will pop into my head and think about things I had done or wish I had done different. Getting back out here and getting in the routine, I'm playing some better golf and I'm starting to feel a little bit more like myself out there, and I'm feeling a little bit more separated from Bethpage.”
Based on history, Bradley couldn’t pick a better major for the game to be coming around. In 15 previous PGA Championship starts, he’s only missed the cut twice while collecting six, top-25 finishes, including a T8 last year at Quail Hollow. That was his first top 10 in a major since the 2022 U.S. Open.
Bradley birdied four of his final six holes in the 2026 Masters to post a final-round, 6-under 66 to finish tied for 21st.
The game is trending up. That’s a great sign as he gets ready to compete in a major so close to his heart.
“The PGA of America has been really important in my career,” he said. “My dad is a PGA professional, taught me the game, brought me up to where I could -- he was the head pro at golf courses where I could practice. PGA of America has always been really special to me. Playing in Ryder Cups and being the Ryder Cup captain I've gotten to know a lot of PGA of America people, which makes it extra personal.”
So, what is it that separates the PGA Championship from other majors?
“They [the PGA of America] have no agenda at this tournament. Kerry Haigh does an unbelievable job setting up major championship golf courses,” Bradley said. “You go to the U.S. Open, you know their agenda is they are going to make this ridiculously hard to the point of being unfair. You know, at the British Open, the weather, and the Masters is the Masters. It's just going to be tough and stressful. PGA Championship could be 3-under could win. Could be 15-under. They just want to host a great tournament, and I think they do an incredible job of that.”