After U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley won the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship on June 22, the PGA of America recirculated a 50-second clip from his college recruiting video that night on social media. “We all start somewhere,” the post, which has more than 150,000 views, cheekily said.
“I’m a hard worker, and I know I will help your program if you give me the opportunity,” Bradley, then age 17, says, wearing a beanie and with his breath visible on a crisp, New England fall day.
The genesis of the video? It was the brainchild of his father, Mark, a PGA professional. With eight PGA Tour victories, including the 2011 PGA Championship, and more than $50 million in career earnings, it’s hard to fathom that Keegan was hardly recruited by college coaches.
“He was underrated his whole life,” Mark said. “He thinks so even still.”
But Mark knew his son was a stick so he tried to take matters into his own hands. In 2004, he produced a six-minute hype video showcasing Keegan’s talents.
“I was kind of ahead of my time,” Mark recalled. “I said they need to see his golf swing, they need to see him in this video. It’s me going this is my kid and he grew up in the pro shop with me every day and he never wasted a moment. I have him putting, chipping, pitching and all the way up to the tee ball. He’s just ripping it. We sent it to about 20 coaches. I don’t think anybody looked at it except Frank Darby.”
That would be the longtime golf coach at St. John’s University in Queens, N.Y. Darby, who is retired now but still co-hosts a popular college golf show on Sirius/XM’s PGA Tour Radio Network, recalled Dave Adamonis Jr., brother of former tour pro Brad, and son of Dave Sr., who started the U.S. Challenge Cup for junior golfers in New England, calling him up and recommending Bradley.
“I said, ‘Is he related to Pat Bradley?’ ” wondered Darby, of the World Golf Hall of Fame member who won 31 times on the LPGA Tour and six majors. “He said, ‘Yes,’ and I was like, ‘Do you need me to come up to Boston right now?’ ”
Keegan may not have had a national profile at the time but he did win the 2003-04 Massachusetts High School Individual Championship and would be named Massachusetts Golfer of the Year in 2004. Still, college coaches weren’t exactly knocking down his door.
Mark’s video of his son showed him hitting three putts from 10 feet. The cup isn’t visible but viewers hear the ball rattle in the cup all three times. “Darby did mention to me that he was impressed with his putting stroke,” Mark remembered. “I knew he had at least seen the video. I don’t think anyone else did.”
Darby, who spent 23 years running the program at St. John’s, brought in Hall of Fame men’s basketball coach Lou Carnesecca to secure the commitment during Keegan’s on-campus visit. “I always made sure his office was the last stop,” Darby said. “The way Keegan loved basketball, that was the move.”
It didn’t hurt that Darby had just sent recent Andrew Svoboda to the pro ranks and while the school didn’t have an official home course, he had pulled enough strings to secure tee times at some of the top layouts in the country, including Bethpage Black. But Bradley’s decision to join the Johnnies ultimately came down to the simple fact that he didn’t have many other scholarship offers. University of Rhode Island expressed interest but the coach only offered a partial scholarship. Even at St. John’s, Bradley had to pay for books and cost of living initially.
“The thing that upset Keegan was the coaches from some of the bigger schools that at least showed some interest and responded with an email, once they made their choices they didn’t respond. It was just crickets,” Mark said. “I remember telling Keegan, ‘Just put that on the old bulletin board’ and he did. They passed up on a blue chip. They didn’t do their homework; I’ll say it right out. He was a kid from Vermont, a ski racer, and they automatically assumed that he couldn’t be any good if he didn’t play golf year-round.”
Bradley went on to collect nine collegiate victories and three Big East Player of the Year awards, earning All-American status during his senior season with the Red Storm. In 2020, he was inducted into the St. John’s Athletics Hall of Fame.
“It was the best place for him to go,” Mark said. “It was 5 miles from Bethpage and now that he’s Ryder Cup captain for the match there, it sure feels like it was serendipitous.”
Read the full article here