Keegan Bradley will enter next year’s golf season with a tad less anxiety than he did the start of his 2011 campaign.
“At the beginning of the year,” the winner of the 2011 PGA Championship told reporters prior to this week’s Chevron World Challenge, “I was freaking out about keeping my card.”
How life has changed since mid-January, when the rookie made his first appearance in The Show after graduating from the Nationwide Tour. Now, instead of scurrying to play as many events as possible just to keep his playing privileges, the two-time 2011 champ can choose to tee it up in tournaments that best fit his calendar and that even allow for an occasional breather.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Bradley intends to slack off. Far from it; the 25-year-old New England native can’t wait to tackle familiar venues from the perspective of a seasoned — albeit jazzed-up — veteran.
“This time around I’ll be able to know more what I’m doing, picking my schedule, skip a few events, rest,” Bradley said Tuesday. “But I’m so excited to get back out there because there are certain courses that I’m excited to have another shot at, and being able to go there the second year around not worried about my tour card.”
Sure, there have been some minor drawbacks to being a major champion — like handling all the pre-tourney demands of family, friends, and sponsors, and participating in so many post-season events that Bradley called them “just another tour basically.” But contests such as October’s PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda (which Bradley won), the HSBC Champions in China in November, and Tiger Woods’ competition that starts Thursday in California are exactly what fire up the graduate of Hopkinton (Mass.) High and St. John’s University. He’s just thrilled to be playing with the big boys.
“The biggest change is just kind of adjusting to being a PGA champion,” Bradley said. “But all of it is so worth it, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I just don’t ?? I’m so happy that I’m on the PGA Tour and able to come to an event like this.”
Bradley won’t cool his heels for any length of time, at least to start the new year. After his turn with Tiger and the guys, he’ll travel to Florida for next week’s Franklin Templeton Shootout. Then it’s on to Hawaii for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions season-opener and the Sony Open, followed quickly by a return flight to California, most likely to take some whacks at Pebble Beach, site of AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (February 9-February 12), and Riviera Country Club for the following week’s Northern Trust Open.
Indeed, the East Coast golfer was keenly looking forward to the California courses.
“The West Coast…is a swing that really fits my game, and I’m excited to get back out there,” said Bradley. “The only part of my schedule that’s locked in is the first two Hawaii events, but I love that West Coast swing, so I’ll be playing a lot on the West Coast.”
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. View all her articles here. You may also follow Kay on Twitter @golfexaminer.)
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