The last man in the BMW Championship field wasn’t fazed by the elevation. 

Keegan Bradley got into the PGA Tour’s return to Colorado as No. 50 in the FedEx Cup standings — the final spot — and took full advantage of that chance at Castle Pines Golf Club on Sunday by firing an even-par 72 in the final round to take home his second BMW Championship title. 

The 38-year-old spent three summers while in college at St. John’s in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where his dad Mark was the head professional at Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis Club. Jackson is 6,237 feet above sea level. 

“When I went to St. John’s I would drive out to Wyoming and I would work at the golf course and I would play in the Wyoming State Amateur and the Wyoming Open,” Bradley said. “I was out there for three summers, I believe. So, I would get done with school in Queens, get in my Ford Focus and drive for three days to Jackson and work all summer, play golf and fish and play in those local tournaments, and it was great.”  

Bradley held off Sam Burns, Ludvig Aberg and Adam Scott by one shot. He finished the tournament at 12-under. He is now firmly in the Tour Championship in fourth position next week in Atlanta. 

“I’m in a bit of a state of shock because there was a time a week ago about this time that I didn’t think I was going to be coming here,” Bradley said. “I had to have a lot of magical things happen for me to just play in this tournament, and when I got here, I was so grateful just to be here. I played with a real sense of calm all week, which is not the norm for me.” 

Bradley won the Wyoming State Amateur in 2005 and wasn’t bothered by the 6,300 feet of elevation. He shot par or better each day of the tournament. 

“I don’t remember much of it, but I do remember sort of the 10%,” he said. “We played a 10% number the whole week. We got here Monday, really worked on it Monday and Tuesday. It was a perfect 10 percent the whole week.” 

The 2025 Ryder Cup captain becomes the third player in history to win after being named captain. Jack Nicklaus won the 1986 Masters after being named the captain for the 1987 team and Davis Love III won the 2015 Wyndham Championship after being named to lead the 2016 United States team. 

Bradley, who also won the BMW Championship in 2018, played a steady round with two birdies and two bogeys. But two shots really stood out for Bradley on Sunday. 

First, on the par-5 14th after pushing his ball well right into the trees, Bradley was able to hit an outstanding shot to leave himself just 127 yards to the hole. He went on to make par and keep his two-shot lead. 

“That was the worst shot I hit all week,” Bradley said about his drive on the 14th hole. “I hit it a little bit fadey and it went with the wind. I was really fortunate where it ended up. I still had to hit a pretty good shot to get it back in play, but another foot or two, it was behind that tree. That was a relief to get down there and see that I could get it out into the fairway.” 

After making a bogey on the 15th hole, the lead was down to one. Bradley made par on 16 and then hit  his drive in the middle of the fairway on the 17th hole with about 232 yards to the hole.  

“I had 222 adjusted to the hole, which is altitude and everything, so I hit a 5-iron,” Bradley said. “I was a little jacked up. One of the best shots of my life.” 

Scott was tied with Bradley going to the 10th tee. A tough three-hole stretch ended Scott’s chance at claiming the title. 

“Not quite the roller coaster that Saturday was, but 10, 11, 12 kind of blew it for me there,” Scott said. “I was in position with wedges on every hole and made three bogeys. That’s almost unthinkable, really.”