INZAI CITY, Japan — It was worth the trip to Japan for Keegan Bradley, who won the Zozo Championship on Sunday with a 2-under 68, 1 shot ahead Rickie Fowler and Andrew Putnam for his first PGA Tour win in just over four years.
Bradley raised both arms to the sky and had to choke back tears after clinching the victory with a tap-in on 18.
He finished with a 15-under total of 265.
Bradley bogeyed two of the last five holes but came through with a key birdie putt on the 17th to give him a 2-shot lead going in the 18th ahead of playing partners Fowler and Putnam.
“It’s not going to be easy; I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Bradley said. “Things aren’t easy for me normally.”
He called the putt on 17 “one of the best holes of my life.”
Bradley won the PGA Championship in 2011 to give him a fast start to his career. The rest has not been as easy.
“This [victory] is high up there,” he said. “I really put a lot of work in during this offseason, and this is what I want to do. I want to win tournaments. I want to play Ryder Cups. I want to be in the conversation, and this is a good start.”
Bradley’s last PGA Tour victory was in 2018 at the BMW Championship. This is his fifth overall on the tour.
Fowler also has not won on the tour for 3½ years, and Putnam is winless in four years.
The Zozo, played at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on the outskirts of Tokyo, is the only PGA Tour event in Japan. The prize money is $11 million with $1.98 million to the winner.