Keegan Bradley won and Justin Rose climbed to No. 1 in the world.
Bradley claimed his first victory in six years by beating Rose with a par on the first playoff hole to capture the rain-plagued BMW Championship, third of the four events in the FedEx Cup playoffs, at Aronimink Golf Club in Newton Square, Pa.
“It’s so hard (to win), this is just incredible,” said the 32-year-old Bradley, who has won four times on the PGA Tour, but not since the 2012 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. “It’s been a hard road back and this is so great.
“I was a dream to do this again forever. I’m just speechless. I’ve had a lot of hard years, I just don’t know what to say. All the hard work paid off and I want to thank everyone who stuck with me.
“I don’t know why, but I was very calm out there today.”
Bradley, the 2011 PGA champion, closed with a 6-under-par 64 and Rose shot 67, but both made bogey on the final hole of regulation to finish at 20-under 260, with the Englishman lipping out a 16-foot par putt that would have made him the winner.
Rose, who has won nine times on the PGA Tour including the 2013 U.S. Open at nearby Merion Golf Club, played sloppily on the playoff hole, missing a five-foot par putt before Bradley tapped in the winner.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed right now, to make bogeys on the last hole of regulation and in the playoff,” said Rose, who captured the 2016 Olympic Gold Medal and won three more times in the last two years around the globe en route to becoming No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings. “I hit a great putt on the final hole of regulation and thought I made it, but it was just poor play on the playoff hole. It was over before you knew it.
“But it’s an amazing achievement to be No. 1 in the world. It was one of my boyhood dreams and I am extremely proud to have done it.”
Billy Horschel, the 2014 FedEx Cup champion, shot 64 and finished one stroke back in a tie for third with Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State, who finished at 67, while sixth-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland was one more down in fifth after a 68.
Tiger Woods, who has won this playoff event twice, and Webb Simpson finished with 65s and were four behind in a tie for sixth, while fifth-ranked Francesco Molinari of Italy totaled 67 to wind up one more back in a tie for eighth with ninth-ranked Rickie Fowler of Murrieta (69), Tony Finau (65) and Tommy Fleetwood (68) of England.
Afterward, Finau was named by Jim Furyk as the final Captain’s Pick for the United States team in the Ryder Cup at the end of this month in Paris.
Fourth-round Justin Thomas finished in a tie for 12th after a 68, while third-ranked Brooks Koepka (67) and eighth-ranked Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis (67) tied for 19th.
Dustin Johnson, who dropped to No. 2 in the world, shot 67 to tie for 24th with seventh-ranked Jon Rahm of Spain, who came in at 69, while 10th-ranked Jordan Spieth struggled to a 73 to tie for 55th, and Phil Mickelson tied for 58th following a 66.
Spieth wound up 31st in the FedEx Cup rankings, one spot shy of qualifying for the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Clubin Atlanta next week.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2018/bmw-championship/leaderboard.html
