Keegan Bradley sunk a 16-foot putt to win the Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday as a double-bogey on the 18th saw Jim Furyk miss out, while Australian Aaron Baddeley finished nine strokes adrift of the winner. In a dramatic finish, though, Bradley posted a six-under 64 in his final round, but needed a long-range putt to save par on his final hole and give himself a chance of staying in touch with Furyk, who led by a stroke at that stage. Furyk, the leader for the first three days following a seven-under 63 opening round, struggled to land it on the green on the 18th, taking four shots to do so, before missing a putt for bogey that would have taken the American pair into a play-off. The double bogey handed Bradley his third career title ahead of the 26-year-old&aposs defence of his PGA Championship crown next week. “I just kept telling myself that this is the exact moment that I live for, that you play golf for, that you grow up your whole life, and I&aposm living it,” Bradley told the PGA Tour website. “It&aposs just an amazing feeling to be in that moment and just loving every second of it. “I didn&apost think for a second I was going to miss it. It was unbelievable. I got behind it, and I barely even had to read it. I knew the exact way it was going to break. I just needed to hit it hard enough. I knew that. And it was dead centre.” Furyk had to settle for a one-under 69 on Sunday that saw him finish on 12 under overall, equal second with Steve Stricker, who signed off on a six-under 64. South African Louis Oosthuizen was a further stroke off the pace after finishing with a one-under 69 while Justin Rose (67) and Rory McIlroy (68) were a further three strokes behind at eight under. American Jason Dufner (68) finished on six under overall in a tie for seventh, while an eight-strong group that included Tiger Woods, Baddeley, Luke Donald and K.J Choi were at four under for the tournament. In an inconsistent tournament for Baddeley, the Australian finished with a four-under 66 but was playing catch-up pretty much from the opening day, when he posted a three-over 73. Baddeley finished one stroke ahead of compatriot John Senden, whose two-over 72 on Sunday saw him slip down the leaderboard to finish on three under overall. Senden still completed the tournament two strokes ahead of Geoff Ogilvy (70), while Jason Day finished at one over despite a final-day 66, after he also struggled on the first day, when he carded a five-over 75. Marc Leishman (73) and Adam Scott (73) both completed their tournaments at five over, the latter saying after his opening round that he is still struggling to mentally deal with his loss at the British Open to Ernie Els last month. Click for FINAL LEADERBOARD
Author: Omnisport