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THE NORTHERN TRUST

August 25, 2018

Keegan Bradley

Paramus, New Jersey

Q. Decent round?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: It was. I've been saying, I can't remember the last time I felt that calm and together the whole round, from the very first tee. I actually felt calmer as the day went on. It's not really normally the case with me. That was fun.

Q. Did the hole just look like a bucket?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: I hit a bunch of shots really close early on, and then I made some putts coming down the end but that one on 18 felt good. That hole's tough. I know I'm most likely going to be a few shots back with how these guys are playing, so I knew coming down the end, that these birdies are going to be big come tomorrow.

So I think those last two are going to really help.

Q. Knowing that, what do you do to try to avoid over-pressing, getting yourself out of rhythm?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: My irons are feeling really nice. I've just got to put the ball in the fairway and I knew once I did that on 18, I checked the pin out on the way to the range this morning and I thought, that's a generous pin. I knew if I could get it in the fairway, chances are I would have a good look and I hit two incredible shots.

Q. Looking back on it, can you figure out why there was some calm from beginning to end?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: I don't know. A lot of times when you go out and shoot a really low number, sometimes coming in, you can feel a little pressure, I don't know, that's just how it is. For whatever reason, I just didn't feel it. I felt calm the whole way around. That's exciting. Because if I can keep that going, I think I'm going to be able to play well again tomorrow.

Q. When you consider all the other low rounds in your career, where would this one rate?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: I hit 18 greens. I think that this course is a tough course. I mean, the rough is deep. So the way I played today was pretty solid. My iron play, especially, is as good as I can hit it, pretty much.

Q. Have you played here or near here, having gone to St. John's?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: I played here in 2014 but we would never really come over to New Jersey that much. I played here when I was a kid with my dad. I don't even know, I might have been ten, but I don't remember many of the holes. But it's a really great, great place.

Q. No point in asking what you shot that day, I guess?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: No. I don't think we played all these holes. They mashed all these holes together, they are all brutal. They are all long par 4s.

Q. This has always been a special part of the world for you. What's it do for your psyche to be around New York?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: It's great. I come back and see a lot of friends and a lot of people I went to college with. I personally think that this Met area has got some of the best golf in the entire world. You go anywhere in this area and there's a radius of five courses within every one of them that are incredible. The fans are great here. A lot of St. John's people, a lot of Yankee fans -- I hear a lot of negative stuff about the Red Sox, but it's a great place to play.

Q. What do you make of the Red Sox season?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: I don't know. Every time I check, they are winning or they have won. I think they are going to be extra-tough to beat, especially for all these Yankee fans.

Q. What do you think this does for anybody at the end of the day?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: I think I'd be a few shots back just looking at who is at the top of the leaderboard. I knew the birdies, when I got to 10, I was like, any birdie from here on out is really going to be big going into tomorrow. I made two coming in, and 18 is a bonus. But there's some really big names at the top of the leaderboard, so I expect them to go out and shoot good scores. You never know, but I would expect to be a couple back.

Q. Did you have any kind of a goal going into today?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: I got a lot to play for in these FedExCup Playoffs. I'm trying to get back into the majors. I'm trying to get back into the WGCs and with one good week here, you can do that. I'm all-out, every week, every day, because there's so much to play for this time of year that can set up your following year, and even years to come.

I've got a lot to play for, so you know, lowest I can shoot, pretty much every day.

Q. What's your position now?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: I'm in the 40s. But you get in THE TOUR Championship, and you're basically Top-50 in the world at that point. So there's a lot to play for.

Q. How much different did the course play today?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, my caddie kept telling me, walking off, we're playing it down, because we had been touching it all day. The course really is drying out. I didn't have one mud ball today. The greens, they are not firm by any means but they are bouncing a little more than they were. It's incredible shape. They have done an incredible job.

Q. What is it going to take for you to be consistently back in the Top-125 and be a Ryder Cup guy? What's it going to take to get you back?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: It's going to take days like tomorrow, getting back in it, and days like today where I finish off a round like that. Days like tomorrow where I can go out there, whether I win, lose, shoot a hundred or whatever, I'm in it and I can feel that again.

Any day like that is going to help me in the future.

Q. During the course of a year -- you've had days where you've mailed it in, haven't you??
KEEGAN BRADLEY: I always tell the younger guys, I see so often, you see guys miss the TOUR Championship by a point or miss their card by a point or miss Boston by two.

I always feel like you've got to play it out because of this time of year, it comes down to a point sometimes. So there's a lot to play for, always.

Q. Have you found yourself being more relentless this time of the year than you would at The Open or whatever, Career Builder.
KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, definitely, even if you come in 40th this week, I mean, it's triple points. Every shot can mean a lot.

Q. Is this the closest that you've been to that guy who played in The Ryder Cup and won the PGA?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, this year, I've really seen a difference in my putting. I'm seeing a difference in how I feel on the course, especially this second half of the year. I'm just excited. I need days like tomorrow. I need them to come more frequently, and then that will get me better in position to be there more often.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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