The Memorial Tournament Presented By Workday

Saturday, June 3, 2023

Dublin, Ohio, USA

Muirfield Village

Keegan` Bradley

Quick Quotes


Q. Nice playing. What was the big turnaround today?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Well, I basically made every putt I looked at today. But I've been working on this feel the past couple weeks and I've sort of left it on the range and tried to play, and then today I just said screw it and I went out there and I had this -- the feel that I've been working on, and I just hit a lot, a lot more quality iron shots.

Q. Why would you have to talk yourself into it?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: I don't know, I always try to leave what I'm working on there, out warming up on the range, and just try to go play. But last night I was thinking, just wasn't hitting that great of iron shots and I just said, all right, I'm going to take this feel to the course. It just really felt good. Then when the putter gets hot like that and combine those up, that's when you can shoot a good one, like today.

Q. What exactly are you taking out there that you hadn't been taking out there? Can you explain it to us in some simple terms.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, I'm just trying to get the club more kind of open and inside on the way back. I have a tendency to sort of come and have it be a little shut, and I was hitting some pulls yesterday. Especially when I feel a little uncomfortable or nervous or uncomfortable on a shot, these pulls are have been popping up.

Today I had some -- 16, 17, 18 are as hard a holes as you're ever going to play. So I was really proud of the shots I hit. I mean, I played 'em even par, which is really a nice stretch there.

Q. Can you talk a little more about 18? Because we see a lot of this where good rounds kind of go to die at 18.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: It's just the tee shot is so difficult because you have to challenge that right side, but those bunkers are dead. You know, all the bunkers are dead out here. Basically you have to chip out of most of 'em.

You can't go up the left because it can kick into that water and if it kicks in the water, you have to drop in the rough. So you're making double. And then if you do hit the fairway, you have to hit a perfect iron shot, especially this flag on 18 is really tough.

So the 5 a lot of times is a good score there. You don't want to make 5 as player, but I made 5 there today and I'm not that disappointed with it.

Q. I got lost on one thing. I thought I heard you say you weren't hitting good iron shots on the range and that's what you decided to take to the course?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: No. I was working on this feel at home last week and then as I was warming up each day, and it felt great, and then I just sort of try to leave that there. Hopefully that carries over. It just wasn't. So I decided last night -- I hit a lot of really good shots yesterday, but then a lot of really bad ones too. There's zero room for error out here. This is as close to a major sort of setup as you're going to find at a regular event. So I just took that out there today, which was a little uncomfortable for me, but it worked out.

Q. We've been saying that a lot lately, haven't we?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: What's that?

Q. This feels like a major. I mean, if you go back to Bay Hill, you go back to --

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Goodness gracious. I feel like I've been playing a U.S. Open for three months, really, honestly. I was talking to my wife, just talking about the stretch of -- I mean, every week now, just seems like the narrative in the golf world now is they don't like to see low scores. That seems to be the thing. We're just showing up every week and there's really deep rough, courses are super long. I mean, they have lengthened holes out here -- every year I come here they have lengthened a few.

Q. You must love 16.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, it's an interesting, it's an interesting hole, I'll put it that way. I hit an 8-iron today and I hit it probably 20 yards short in that front fairway, I was so thrilled. I would take it to, I would take it there 20 yards short of the green every round, every flag.

Q. Were you trying to do that?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: I was trying to play to the front. Because you can't hit it in that back right bunker. I mean, it's a, it's just a brutal shot. So it's a scary stretch.

Q. What was your number today, like?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: 179 adjusted. It's probably 185 without the down.

Q. Did you sit in on the USGA/manufacturer discussion this week?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: I didn't.

Q. Do you have any position on where they're attempting to go with it?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, I have a really strange relationship with the USGA from the belly putter. I just feel like the USGA admits to making mistakes and then they punish the players for it. I don't feel like it's our fault that they think that the ball went too far or that they should have banned the belly putter. They retroactively, decades later, try to adjust and then they just throw it on us. Which is, we do this as a living. This is how we make our living. I don't think that's necessarily fair that we pay for their mistakes. And I don't -- I think it's fine. I mean, what are you going to do if you roll the ball back on this course? You got to build all new tees. It's 7,800 yards long.

Q. Put that house back on the 16th.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, the tee on 17 goes up against the fence. So if you have, you have to have it four or five up. So I just, I think the USGA makes a lot of mistakes and I don't feel as though us, the players, should have to pay for it. I mean, I don't think that that's right.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
133507-1-1044 2023-06-03 17:32:00 GMT

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