Keegan Bradley

Bradley became only the third player after Francis Ouimet (1913) and Ben Curtis (2003) to win a major in his first attempt, and was the first golfer to win a major with a long putter.

Keegan Hansen Bradley (born June 7, 1986) is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour.

He lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 2001 and 2002 when his father was an assistant pro at Portsmouth Country Club.

He then moved to Hopkinton, Massachusetts prior to his senior year at Hopkinton High School, where he won the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Division 2 individual state championship in 2004.

Hopkinton coach Dick Bliss later recalled that Bradley received the third-most attention of his players that season, and that "not many big-time college recruiters gave him much of a look."

Bradley attended St. John's University and won nine collegiate events before graduating in 2008.

Bradley turned professional in 2008 and began playing on the NGA Hooters Tour, where he won at Southern Dunes in his fifth and final start of the year.

Bradley won a second Hooters Tour event in 2009 at the Texas Honing Open.

He made 22 cuts in 26 events that season and earned $84,000.

He also played two Nationwide Tour events that year, making the cut in both of them.

He attempted to earn a 2010 PGA Tour card through qualifying school but ultimately fell short by two strokes.

In 2010, Bradley played on the Nationwide Tour, where he recorded four consecutive top-five finishes late in the season to finish 14th on the money list and earn his PGA Tour card for 2011.

He also became the seventh consecutive first-time major winner and the first American major champion since Phil Mickelson won the 2010 Masters.

With the victory, Bradley moved from number 108 to number 29 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

In December, he was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

For the season, Bradley finished 10th on the PGA Tour's money list.

He has won six tour events, most notably the 2011 PGA Championship.

He is one of six golfers to win in his major debut, along with Ben Curtis, Fred Herd, Willie Park, Sr., Francis Ouimet and Horace Rawlins.

He was the 2011 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year and has briefly featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking.

Bradley is the eldest child of Mark Bradley, the head professional at the Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis Club just outside Jackson, Wyoming.

Growing up as an all-state ski racer in Woodstock, Vermont, Bradley decided as a teenager to pursue golf over skiing.

Bradley made the cut in his first PGA Tour event, the 2011 Sony Open in Hawaii, and finished T-7 the following week at the Bob Hope Classic.

He added a second top 10 finish at the Valero Texas Open in April.

Bradley won his first PGA Tour event at the 2011 HP Byron Nelson Championship.

He defeated Ryan Palmer on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.

The victory gained him entry into the 2011 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, where he shared the 36-hole lead and led midway through the final round before finishing T-15.

The week after the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Bradley played in his first major, the 2011 PGA Championship.

A second-round 64 propelled him into a share of the lead at the halfway stage, and Bradley remained only one shot out of the lead after 54 holes.

Bradley became the 11th player to win a major championship and a World Golf Championship.

At the 2012 Northern Trust Open, Bradley and Phil Mickelson each made long birdie putts on the 72nd hole to force a three-man playoff with Bill Haas, who made a 45-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to win the tournament.

Bradley held a two-stroke lead during the final round of the 2012 WGC-Cadillac Championship but dropped four shots over the final four holes, including a double bogey on the 18th, to finish T-8.

He started the season with nine consecutive top-25 finishes, then had just one in his next ten outings.

In June, Bradley played in Europe for the first time at The Irish Open at Royal Portrush and missed the cut.

Bradley won his third PGA Tour event at the 2012 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by a stroke over Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker.

Entering the final round trailing Jim Furyk by four strokes, Bradley narrowed the deficit to one going to the final hole.

Bradley converted a 15-foot par putt while Furyk made double bogey to lose by one stroke.

He moved up to a career high of 12th the next week, when he finished T3 at the 2012 PGA Championship.

In the final round, he triple-bogeyed the 15th hole to fall five shots behind Jason Dufner with three holes to play before recovering with back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 which, combined with three consecutive bogeys for Dufner, left Dufner and Bradley tied after 72 holes of regulation play.

Bradley won the three-hole playoff with a birdie and two pars, while Dufner went par-bogey-birdie to finish one stroke behind.

The win elevated Bradley to 15th in the world rankings.