keegan wins uspga

A dramatic finish to the USPGA Championship saw young American Keegan Bradley take the title in his first ever Major.

The 25-year-old looked to have blown it with a triple bogey at the par-3 15th, handing fellow American Jason Dufner a five-shot lead. Dufner had just four holes to play and it looked like it was all over.

Other challenges from Luke Donald and Lee Westwood had already subsided and Scott Verplank couldn’t quite catch the men at the top of the leaderboard.

But Bradley dug deep and managed to fashion birdies at the 16th and 17th. On the 17th he holed a 40-foot putt to cling onto his title hopes. And as Keegan bounced back, Dufner started to fall apart. His three bogeys in the last four holes saw him slip to a play-off with Bradley on -8.

It was Bradley who won through the three-hole play-off to claim his first Major title.

He said: “It feels unbelievable… like a dream. I have been having a good year and that’s the way things happen for me.”

Bradley certainly has had a good year. He started 2011 at 329th in the world rankings but his first PGA Tour title in his 12th start at the Byron Nelson Championship and this Major title have seen him leap to 29th.

Westwood and Donald ended in a tie for eighth, five shots off the lead as the European challenge ended up being led by Dane Anders Hansen and Swede Robert Karlsson. Hansen finished third, just one shot back from Dufner and Bradley, while Karlsson was tied fourth with David Toms, three shots behind the leaders.

Sergio Garcia had another encouraging week and finished in a tie for 12th.

Rory McIlroy was disappointing after suffering an injury to his wrist in the opening round at Atlanta CC. He slumped to tied 64th after a final-round 74.

Tiger Woods missed the cut and looked a shadow of his former self as he found 22 bunkers in his opening two rounds.

The American players have come under scrutiny this year, without a Major win since the Masters last year, but they showed they still have talent in depth this week in Atlanta.