Keegan Bradley feels at home, Jordan Spieth just wants ‘a chance’ at history, and more from the PGA Championship
Bradley reflected on his fond memories of Aronimink, Matt Fitzpatrick spoke about playing his best golf this season, and Spieth explained why he’s going to “not try to” win.
PGA Championship week was in full swing on Monday at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square as golfers took to the green for the first day of the practice round ahead of the tournament’s start on Thursday.
Prior to the second major of the year, Keegan Bradley reflected on his fond memories of Aronimink, Matt Fitzpatrick spoke about playing his best golf this season, and Jordan Spieth explained why he’s going to “not try to” win.
Here are some takeaways from Monday’s practice round.
Bradley feels at home
The last time Bradley played at Aronimink was a “major moment” in his career in the 2018 BMW Championship.
Standing on the eighth green, which is parallel to the 10th green, Bradley said he looked over to see Tiger Woods in his signature red shirt and black pants. The leaderboard showed Bradley in the lead, and with Woods trying to chase him down.
Bradley went on to beat Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to secure his first PGA Tour win in six years, a victory he said he “never knew” if he’d get again on the Tour.
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It was also the first time his family was present for one of his Tour wins, with his son Logan, a baby at the time, and his wife Jillian there.
“They ran out on the green, so, it was a dream for me since I was a little kid to be able to experience that,” Bradley said. “And to win at an amazing course like this is really, really extra special.”
While he has the advantage of knowing the course and how to win on it, he said the difference is in the conditions. The ground was wet that day in 2018, and the forecast is projected to be clear this week. But it has all the hills and mounds of a typical Northeast course, which is what he grew up playing on.
“I can think of several holes here where you can land it and be close to the flag, four or five feet and it’s going to roll. The 11th hole is a really wild green, and if you missed it and it comes down off the green, it’s coming like 50, 60 yards down the front,” Bradley said. “So you have to be really accurate and precise with where you’re hitting the ball on the green.”
City of Brotherly Love
While Bradley feels comfortable with the Aronimink course, Fitzpatrick is playing the course for the first time. And it’s coming at the right time for Fitzpatrick, who is playing his best golf. He originally considered 2022 his “golden period” when he tied for fifth in the PGA Championship and went on to win the U.S. Open. This year he has already earned three tournament wins with the Valspar Championship, the RBC Heritage, and the Zurich Classic.
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“For two, three years afterwards, this was always the best period that I had ever played,” Fitzpatrick said. “But obviously, the start of this year has definitely eclipsed that because obviously, A) the results, but B) the underlying numbers themselves have definitely been better.”
The other thing making this season a little more special than 2022 is that Fitzpatrick is going into his second major competing alongside his brother, Alex. They both competed at The Open Championship in 2023.
The 108th PGA Championship — one of the four major championship of men's professional golf — returns to Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square for the first time in over six decades.
On Wednesday, Marcus Hayes and Jeff Neiburg will host Gameday Central from Aronimink, and be sure to check out the PGA Championship Range Show from 12-2 p.m daily, starting Wednesday.
Whether you're going, watching from home, or just curious about what all the fuss is about, we've got you covered with our PGA guide and stories on everything from Aronimink's history and design, to what the players have to say about returning to the Philly area. We even made a golf video game so you can play the course and learn its secrets. Get more here.
The two have yet to be in contention together in a major, and have only once before, during the DP World Tour in Switzerland. But if that time comes, Fitzpatrick imagines it will be a “weird feeling.”
Either way, Matt Fitzpatrick is remaining focused on his own schedule, with hopes that his best golf will lead to his second major win.
“I’m very strict on my routine. I want to do this and I need to see whoever at this time. If he wants to fit that in, that’s great,” Matt Fitzpatrick said. “Obviously, we want to play together. But I want him to be able to do his own thing.”
Spieth’s ‘chance’
Fitzpatrick is seeking his second major win, but for Spieth, there’s a lot more on the line. He can complete the final leg of a Grand Slam, becoming the seventh man to win all four majors a year after Rory McIlroy completed the feat at the Masters.
But don’t expect the same reaction out of Spieth if he achieves it. He said his situation was very different from McIlroy’s at Augusta.
“I went on a run of feeling like I was contending or having a good chance of contending at every major for a number of years and then it was periodic, and I feel like I’m close to being able to go back to doing that again,” Spieth said. “So I just want to give myself a chance.”
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And the way Spieth thinks he’ll get his best chance at winning is if he tries not to.
“Just go out and get ready for the first hole, get a good game plan in and attack it the way it needs to be attacked,” Spieth said. “My game has been getting better and better. It’s plenty good to have a chance to win.”