PGA Tour Golfer, playing for Boston Common in the TGL, Keegan Bradley joins! Is Bradley, who's from VT, excited/nervous to represent Boston/NE area tonight?
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00:00I can only imagine that this individual growing up here had aspirations of one day being a
00:07professional athlete playing for a Boston professional franchise and he has he's now
00:14officially doing that playing for Boston Common in the TGL. Keegan Bradley is our guest this morning.
00:20Hey Keegan. Hey boys, how you doing? Thanks for joining us this morning. How are you?
00:25I'm doing good. I'm excited about tonight. I'm nervous but I'm really excited to do exactly
00:33what you said to represent Boston, represent New England, really fulfilling a lifelong dream
00:38tonight. I mean who knew when you were, and I don't know if this is accurate or not, but
00:43the people have been texting in about it all morning long, Hopkinton High number three when
00:50it came to order of importance. Is that correct? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, that's correct. I mean
00:57where's two and one? Yeah, where are they? Where's two and one right now?
01:03For what? My favorite teams? No, no, no. When it comes to the, did they go on to play golf,
01:08number one and number two on that teams? Yeah. Oh, oh, I see what you mean. Well, John Curran
01:14was number one. He went to Vanderbilt. He played in the PGA Tour. My high school team was better
01:19than my college team, honestly, my freshman year. And then we had a girl on our team named
01:25Kim Donovan who went to Duke on a full scholarship who was unbelievable as well. I mean we were
01:32one of the best high school teams in the country, I think, and playing in Massachusetts, that was
01:38unheard of. It was, like I said, my high school team was for sure better than my college, than
01:44my freshman year college team. You said you were nervous about tonight. That's interesting because
01:50it seems like there's some, when it comes to guys that are doing this for the first time,
01:55there's a bit of anxiety because I don't know if it's the fans being so close or, you know,
02:02the kind of the setup and the fact that sometimes you're hitting on the sim and other times you're
02:08hitting out of an actual trap. Is that what it is? Yeah, you know, it's you do something for so
02:14long like I've done and this is my 15th year in the PGA Tour and then all of a sudden I'm doing
02:20my job but in a completely different manner, something that I've never done. I'm basically
02:24a rookie again and there's sort of a lot of unknowns, you know, how you're going to feel,
02:30you know, certain shots around the green are a little different and you're playing against Tiger
02:35Woods, you're playing on TV, you're playing for the city of Boston, because there's some weight
02:39there. So, you know, I look forward to getting in there and sometimes as an athlete feeling
02:46uncomfortable is actually kind of fun. So, you know, I'll be in there tonight and, you know,
02:53I'll feel the nerves and but again that sort of uneasiness for us maniac athletes can be fun.
03:00I sometimes get anxiety watching your pre-putt routine. That sometimes gives me anxiety.
03:06Yeah, well, that makes two of us.
03:10Well, Keegan, it was cool to watch you. We're big fans of Full Swing, obviously,
03:14season one and season two, but you came away from season two, I think, being very honest about your
03:19anxieties when it comes to the game and also being very honest when it comes to your age and how you
03:24view being one of the older guys. What can we expect different as we get ready for season three,
03:30which comes out next month?
03:33Well, you know, I've seen the episode. It's fun to watch because, you know, it sort of follows the
03:41President's Cup, which is a little happier storyline than last year's. And, you know,
03:50I always wanted to make at least one more team in my professional life. And after missing Rome,
03:56the Ryder Cup last year, I sort of thought I didn't know if I was ever going to get this chance
04:01again. And, you know, halfway through the year, even with two tournaments to go, I was a vice
04:06captain of the President's Cup team and not really even on the radar later in the year.
04:12And then I went and won BMW and then all of a sudden I'm smack in the middle of this again.
04:16And it's a really fun sort of story and how it, you know, I all of a sudden I'm there on Sunday
04:22with the chance to win the clinching point for the United States and sort of a fairytale ending.
04:28Keegan, do you feel like for, you know, people out there, some of us who might like myself,
04:33who are not big golf fans, do you feel like this TGL, it might be able to bring in some of those
04:39people that aren't golf fans because of the fact that you guys get to show your personality. It's
04:44so unique. There's like music, the fans are kind of right on top of you. It's completely different
04:50than, you know, being on like the PGA Tour. Definitely. It's totally different. Even
04:57yesterday when I was in there, we're sort of getting in there practicing. After I get off
05:01the phone with you, I'm going back in again and do a little work because it's so different. It's,
05:06you know, the fans are right on top of you. I'm going in there and we have to wear an earpiece
05:11while we're playing. Even that's different. You know, we can give a little insight to how we're
05:16feeling, the sort of shot we're going to hit. And, you know, it's totally different pace.
05:22And then, you know, when I went and watched, I'm sitting there 10 feet away watching Tiger Woods,
05:29which is pretty unbelievable. And what a fun way to watch some of these great personalities,
05:35because especially for a person like me, it's hard for me to show my personality when I'm playing
05:41golf on the tour because I'm nervous. I want to, you know, I'm focusing and this sort of gives us
05:47a chance to maybe show a little bit more of our personalities. I know we talked about it a bit
05:53on the show and at the time when it came to US players, Ryder Cup team being paid, there was
06:00a lot of back and forth on that, but you had come right out and suggested that the guys were going
06:06to give it to charity. Is that still the plan? And how does everybody feel about that?
06:12Yeah, I mean, the PGA of America has done the right thing. And, you know, we can make a great
06:20impact with charities around the world with this. The charity dollars have been the same since the
06:2699 Ryder Cup. So 25 years, the number hasn't gone up with, you know, revenues going through the roof
06:34and the popularity of the event going through the roof as well. So this just gives the players
06:39more opportunity to make a difference in there. Pretty much every player on our team will have,
06:44they have charities, they have their own foundations. And this just is another way for
06:49us and them to give back and make a difference to people around them.
06:53Keegan, best career, Tiger or Brady?
06:58Oh, man.
07:01Geez, well, oh, that's that's tough, because I'm gonna say Tom Brady, because I, you know,
07:09he's my he's my all time hero, but Tiger sort of my, my unofficial boss for this TGL thing.
07:14So this might get me in trouble. But, you know, for me, gosh, both guys. So Brady is sort of a
07:23mythical figure in my life of just growing up as a kid, and watching him, you know, turn, come in
07:29for Bledsoe and then turn into the greatest player of all time. And then Tiger is the same sort of
07:33thing for me where he, I remember the 97 Masters watching and that just changed my life forever.
07:40And in part of me with Tiger feels like, geez, he really only had a small window like he could
07:46Geez, he really only had a small window like he could have played it.
07:50When when he won the US Open at Torrey Pines in 2008, you would you would have thought he's going
07:55to have another 10 years of dominance. And he's he just had some injuries. And without that,
08:00you know, who knows where what his numbers could be?
08:03I'm guessing you might say Hopkinton, but in your mind, favorite course to play in Massachusetts?
08:10Well, I, I'll tell you what, I really just at the US Open at Brookline at the Country Club was
08:17one of the one of the best weeks of my professional life, playing in front of those fans and just
08:23being so close to Boston. We we we so often we play in these cities and we're we're an hour away
08:30or we're, you know, they say we're in New York City, but we're, you know, two hour drive from
08:35New York. And when you play the Country Club, you're, you know, you're three miles from Fenway
08:39Park, you're right in the heart of Boston. And I just love that. And I had memories of going to
08:46the 99 Ryder Cup there. And for me, being in the atmosphere and being on the grounds at the
08:52Country Club was the best. I thought you were gonna say Ponca Pog, but whatever.
08:56Keegan, I love the fog. Greg's a Leo J guy.
09:00Yeah, the unicorn. Maybe you get out in the unicorn every once in a while.
09:04To help you out with your boss, what's it like, you know, and I don't know if you've
09:08you've done it before. What's it like to be able to sit there and be out on the course with Tiger
09:12Woods and just kind of pick his brain when it comes to golf and maybe some things that could
09:17obviously help you become a better golfer? What is that conversation like? And is there anything
09:23that he's maybe he's kind of given you that has, you know, really benefited you from
09:28changing, you know, and helping you with your career?
09:32Yeah, so Tiger has been great to me from the moment I stepped out on the tour in 2011.
09:38He right before the 2012 Ryder Cup, he invited me to dinner. That's like two weeks before the
09:46Ryder Cup at Medina and just me and him and talked to me about the Ryder Cup. I him and Fred
09:53couples always go off number 10 at eight o'clock on Wednesday at Augusta. That's like everyone gets
09:59out of their way. You know, they're going. I got to play with those two early on in my career. And
10:06Tiger would, you know, say, come over. I remember a putt on 13. He said, come over and hit this
10:10putt. Everyone hits this 10 feet by or something like that. And then, you know, little things like
10:15that. And then, you know, through this Ryder Cup process, he's been one of the most helpful people
10:22for me personally, calling me, checking in. I've called him multiple times for advice on some ideas
10:29and he's been super engaging. Everybody, you know, when I got this captaincy, everyone was saying how
10:36much they're going to help me and blah, blah, blah. But the reality is Tiger has been, you know,
10:41the guy that's really stepped up and helped me. And when you have a guy like Tiger as a resource
10:47and as a support system, it only makes things better for our team.
10:51Keegan, Bethpage hosting the Ryder Cup for the first time. What do you like about that course?
10:55I know nothing about it. So what makes it special? Well, the cool thing about Bethpage, I went to
11:01college at St. John's University in New York and that was one of our home courses. And what makes
11:07Bethpage really special and unique is it's a true public golf course. So, you know, Pebble Beach is
11:13public, but you play, it's like $1,200 to play a round of golf there. So it's not really public.
11:19Bethpage Black, if you're a local, you know, person that lives there, you can play Bethpage
11:25Black for like $40. And, you know, this is a real major championship caliber golf course
11:32with history and just, you know, brutal golf course, brutal holes everywhere. And you're
11:38going to, the crowd that shows up at Bethpage, this is their home course. This is the course
11:44they grew up on. This is the course that they slept in the car to get the first tee time with
11:49their dad. So, you know, this golf course means a lot to the people of New York and not just the
11:56town it's in. They're very proud of it. And when they come out and watch a tournament there, when
12:02they come out and support the United States, they're going to be loud and proud. And I'm going
12:07to be grateful for that. Don't they have, like, speaking of sleeping in the car, like a system
12:11where you put, you put your ball in some kind of a thing and they go by order of that. Right.
12:16In order to get, that's how you do it. Yeah. You, you, you're this way. They did it when I was
12:20there. You put your ball in this little like round thing and you just sleep in your car and then they
12:25come and tell you you're on the tee. And, uh, you know, it's old school and, um, there's just
12:31something really special about Bethpage. And when you go there, you feel it. And it's just, you know,
12:36it's the people's golf course. It's it's there, there's actually four other courses or maybe five
12:41and people learn to play there. They learned, you know, and then when they can, you know,
12:47come to the course they grew up on and watch a Ryder cup or a major, it's pretty special.
12:52Best mini golf course in Massachusetts, Pirate's Cove. Pirate's Cove is pretty good. We play one
12:58in, uh, near Newbury port that we, that we go to that we, we enjoy with my boys. Um, but yeah,
13:04that's a pretty good one. Are the boys going to be, you think they'll, they'll be golfers?
13:11Yeah, they, they love it. I, I I'm scared for him because it's a weird life to play this sport,
13:18but it's not very much fun. I'd rather, um, uh, be on a team with their buddies, but they,
13:24they love golf. And as long as they love doing it, then I love taking them.
13:29Courtney said earlier, she's a fan of the stash. Are you keeping it?
13:32Yeah. Yeah. The stashes is here. I, I did it as a joke in Maui and my whole family loved it. So
13:41I kept it. And, uh, now I'm getting concerned. If I play good golf, I have to keep this stupid
13:46thing all year, but I, uh, one, one, one bad event and this, this thing will be gone.
13:52Well, we're looking forward to tonight and to your, this is the first time that the Boston
13:57common have had the opportunity to get out there. So you got to get a win for the city. We need
14:02wins in the city. Yes. That's the, that's the thing about playing for Boston and Fenway sports
14:08that you, you, you're expected to win. And, you know, I've always felt a pretty heavy obligation
14:13to represent the Boston, new England area with wins and high quality play. And there's no
14:19difference tonight. I always feel, you know, like I'm representing a region and especially tonight
14:25when I have the logo on and the city behind me, it's a, it's a heavy burden that we take
14:29seriously. Well, we appreciate you taking the time with us this morning and we would, we would
14:34love to talk to you again around Ryder cup time. So, uh, thanks. Thanks a ton for being on this
14:39morning, Keegan. Perfect. And I just want to say, I'm so pumped about Mike Vrabel and everything
14:46that's going on with the Patriots and maybe I think we're back. Okay. All right. All right.
14:51Drake may. Yep. I mean, Josh McDaniels, we are all back. We are back. You heard it from
14:57we're back, baby. You heard from Keegan. All right. Thanks Keegan. Bradley. Thanks guys.