Back in Atlanta, Bradley tops leaderboard
ATLANTA - Keegan Bradley picked up where he left off in Atlanta just a few weeks ago. The tour rookie who won the PGA Championship, season's final major at Atlanta Athletic Club, showed once again on Thursday that he loves playing in this area.He was so happy at the end of his round, he seemed genuinely happy to see the media.
"Yeah, it's good to see you guys again," Bradley said after an opening 6 under par 64 left him two shots clear of World Number One Luke Donald, Chez Reavie and Jason Dufner. "I haven't seen you in a while. Yeah, it was a good day out there. I just felt comfortable right from the start, and I made a bunker shot on the second hole which kind of got me calmed down, and it just seemed to be easy today, and it seems to be when you play good golf, it's easy. When you play bad golf, it seems hard. It was just a good day. "
Interestingly, Bradley proved, as did Dufner, they both like to play on Bermuda grass. The two players met in a playoff for the PGA Championship last month. They'll play together in the final pairing of Friday's second round.
"I think it's really cool," Bradley said. "I saw that Jason was playing right in front of me today, and I think that's going to be really fun. I hope I get to play with him. He's a good guy. You know, it would be a lot of fun. I think it's kind of cool that coming back to Atlanta we're going to get to play with each other again, and I hope it happens."
Bradley has been enjoying the fruits of his major win by fulfilling lifelong dreams, like tossing out the first-pitch at a Red-Sox game and going on the field with Tom Brady and the Patriots. And he wouldn't have changed it, even though his game suffered a bit, for the world.
"No, I wouldn't have done anything differently," he said. "It just so happened that the next two events were basically in my two hometowns, and that was just kind of bad luck. Good luck, too. It was fun to go back home and play in front of everybody, but there was nothing I could do about that. I've been wanting to throw out the first pitch at Fenway my whole life, Tom Brady is my hero, I got to go on the field. I wouldn't have passed that up for anything."
With the greens almost identical to Atlanta Athletic Club, it should surprise no one that Bradley and Dufner are at it again.
Dufner was pleased with his fast start, but not totally pleased with his effort.
"Yeah, good start to the day, 3-under through 4, so great way to start a tournament," Dufner said. "Threw in a birdie late on the back, I think 15. Played okay, scored really well. Any time I was in trouble, I was able to make a par. Any time I hit a bad shot, I kind of dodged a tree here or dodged a tree there or had a good lie.
A little disappointed with how I drove the ball today. Usually I drive it a good bit better than that, but great scoring day today and hopefully get that driver sorted and start hitting some fairways."
While Bradley chases dreams of being player-of-the-year and a Presidents' Cup selection by captain Fred Couples, the pressure seems focused on the five players in control of their own destiny here at East Lake. A win by either Webb Simpson (69), Dustin Johnson (70), Justin Rose (69), Luke Donald (66) or, Matt Kuchar (67) guarantees them the $10 million prize that goes to the winner of the playoffs points' race.
Adam Scott explained it this way: "I'm just playing a tournament here this week, and you know, it's a good one to be at, to only have to beat 29 guys for a change. I don't think there's any pressure on anyone other than those top 5, although I don't know that there's that much pressure on those guys, either. It's kind of a no-lose situation for them all."
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