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BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

September 3, 2014

Keegan Bradley

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, COLORADO

JOHN BUSH: We would like to welcome Keegan Bradley to the interview room here at the BMW Championship. Keegan, I know it's already been a big week for you. But, first of all, just comment on being here at the BMW Championship and at Cherry Hills.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, the BMW Championship -- BMW does an unbelievable job with the setup of the property and it's got a special look to it. Cherry Hills is a special venue for the life of golf. Arnold Palmer and all that's happened here, it's really special to be here and I hope for a good week.

JOHN BUSH: Number 28 in the FedExCup. So, a big week for you here in the third event of the playoffs.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, I played in the TOUR Championship every year, I've been on TOUR, so this is -- I don't want to stop that streak. So, I need to go out this week and have a solid week and obviously, the goal is to always win. So if you do that, it takes care of everything.

JOHN BUSH: We'll open it up to questions.

Q. Could you speak to the challenge this week of preparing on a short week, on a golf course you guys don't really know, with altitude adjustments, the challenges of all of that.
KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, it's actually been really difficult. Got in super late Monday night, had a lot going on with the Ryder Cup, played nine holes, was exhausted. I hit shots, trying to get this altitude down. It's going to be a challenge for a lot of guys, because a lot of guys are just going to come in today, play the pro-am and go straight into tomorrow. There could be some shots that you see guys hit that fly greens or come up way short. It's definitely a challenge for us to come in here on a short week, especially with the altitude.

Q. People who are in every TOUR Championship, that seems to be an achievement that kind of no one really talks about or why is that? Why do you think that kind of consistency is not really a hallmark of conversations?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: I'm not sure, because it's a pretty amazing. It's one of my personal favorite stats of mine. Just because it shows that from my rookie year, every year I've been on TOUR, I've been one of the best players on the PGA TOUR. So, making the TOUR Championship is really difficult. And especially this year with the fall counting and the fact that a big majority of us, because we played through the FedExCup and played a Presidents Cup, we didn't get to play many of those fall events. So, making the TOUR Championship is a huge honor. And it's one of the most fun tournaments of the year, because it's the last tournament and everybody's excited to be there. It's like the last day of school almost. (Laughter.)

Q. There's been 16 wins by 20 somethings, such as yourself. Is there a common denominator among your generation and what do you make of that?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, I think that we -- I am and we are, a part of the Tiger Woods generation that watched him play. We grew up watching him only talk about winning and coming out on TOUR and wanting to win right away. I think you're seeing now the influence of Tiger Woods on the PGA TOUR and on my generation of golfers. We didn't come on TOUR to -- we didn't come on TOUR scared of anybody. We were very respectful of the players, but Tiger kind of taught us to come with a mindset of winning.

Q. How good can Rory McIlroy be?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, Rory is a, he's a special player. Really good dude. I really enjoy hanging out with Rory. He's got a lot of talent. He's very driven, which is most important. And he loves to win. As we all do. So he's, when he's at his best, he's tough to beat.

Q. Ryder Cup related, can you draw anything from form-wise, building up Ryder Cup from a tournament that's a mile high in these great conditions, to what we might be seeing in the rain at Gleneagles at the end of the month or is form, form anyway?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: Well I think the Ryder Cup -- I personally think that your form going into the Ryder Cup is inevitable. Whether it's good or bad. Because the Ryder Cup is so unique and has such energy and craziness about it, that it either brings out a really good side of your golf or it can bring out an ugly side. So, I'm a big believer in -- you could win five tournaments in a row going up to the Ryder Cup and have a poor week. Or you could -- 2012, I didn't have a good playoff at all, I really kind of struggled. I played some of the best golf of my life in that Ryder Cup. So, it's tough to say, if you have a bad week this week it doesn't mean you're going to have a bad week in the Ryder Cup.

Q. Talk about making the Ryder Cup team last night. The excitement involved in that.
KEEGAN BRADLEY: Oh, man. It was really amazing. Golf Channel did such a cool job. It was a lot of fun. It was a tough stretch for me. Fred Couples especially, was very helpful, and he would text me and after a tournament or after a good round. This is months and months ago, and kind of give me some advice and some emotional support, because he knew how bad I wanted to be on the team. He helped me a lot. A lot of the guys reached out to me, which means a lot. I made no secret what the Ryder Cup means to me and to make -- to miss the team would have been just totally devastating. So, thank God it didn't happen.

Q. Speaking of Rory, you were on the first tee when he was nowhere to be found at Medinah. What was that like for you, knowing that your opponent may not make it to the course on time? Can you take us through just the range of emotions and thoughts that you were dealing with on that day.
KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, it was a little distracting, because everyone was talking about it, coming up to me. And I had actually spoken to a PGA official and we had -- there's no way I was going to let him forfeit the match by not showing up. We were going to bump our time back or move back when he showed up. But I knew the whole time it was going to be close. Maybe move it back one time. But we had a great match. We both were way under par. Maybe in some ways that was away to just go on to the first tee, not thinking of anything and it was an interesting day.

Q. You said it would have been devastating not to make the Ryder Cup team. Can you speak to Chris Kirk not getting a pick and just can you empathize with the feeling?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, Chris Kirk is one of my good friends out here. If the Captain Tom would have told me, listen, Keegan, I'm taking Chris over you, I would have totally understood. If he said, Keegan, I'm going to take any of these guys over you, I would have a hundred percent got it. Because these guys are playing so well. Chris Kirk is such a good player. I feel for him a lot. But the thing that's about Chris is he's going to be on tons of teams from here on out. He could be on the next five. So that's a good thing. America needs Chris Kirk in the future because he's a tough competitor.

Q. You mentioned Palmer on that first hole. Will you go driver there and do you think the rest of the field will try to drive that par four to start this thing off?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: It's an interesting hole, because I think that you can hit driver and take that whole hazard out of play on the right. I'm probably going to just send it, hit it down there and hope it finds the green or anywhere with around that green.

JOHN BUSH: All right. Keegan Bradley. Thank you, sir.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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