Keegan Bradley

Bradley, who went to high school in Hopkinton, Mass., is just two strokes back of the lead after shooting a 1-under par in Saturday's third round.

"As a kid, I dream of playing in front of Boston fans and being a Patriot or being in the Garden," Bradley said. "But playing here, it's going to be intense, but I've had this weird sense of calm over me this week. As someone who grew up wanting to play in Gillette Stadium, Fenway Park or TD Garden, the walkup on No. 18 was as close as he'll get to experiencing that thrill. Let's take this in, and I didn't know they were going to do that, and it just made it that much better." Birdies on the 8th and 9th holes sparked the turnaround. "That walk up 18 was the best I've ever felt at a tournament," Bradley said.

It celebrated the home team of the 122nd U.S. Open, that dude from Vermont who ran onto this course during the famed 1999 Ryder Cup at age 13 and keeps a ...

“As a kid, I dreamed of playing in front of Boston fans and being a Patriot or being in the Garden,” he said. The crowd “went crazy for me” approaching the green, he said, “and then I made the putt, and they went wild.” His front nine had ended with a dreary 36. They mattered halfway along to the ruckus on No. 18, when Bradley rang in an 11-foot putt on No. 9 for one of his five birdies that went with his four bogeys and nine pars. “Honestly,” Bradley said, “It was one of the most amazing moments of my entire life. It boomed out of the grandstand on No. 18 as if from some other, throatier sport.

BROOKLINE – Keegan Bradley experienced a Boston sports moment as he made his way down the 18th fairway on Saturday at the 122nd U.S. Open at The Country ...

Bradley got back to even on the tournament and one over on the round with a birdie on nine, a short straight par four. Bradley went even on the round with a birdie of 15, a 622-yard, par five. After three consecutive pars, Bradley bit back with a birdie on 14 to get back to even on the round. Bradley made par on four and five but lost a stroke on the par 3, 192-yard, sixth hole. He missed a similar putt on three to fall two strokes back on the round and two over in the tournament. His approach shot landed 14 feet from the pin and he two-putted for birdie.

Keegan Bradley is used to cheering on Boston's best. On Saturday, it was Boston fans cheering for him.

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Not surprisingly, Keegan Bradley and the Boston faithful are leaning all the way into the New England narrative at The Country Club.

Should Bradley go on to win on Sunday, that pain will have lasted all of 72 hours, and it will be he and the city’s latest sports memory that will last a lifetime. “I made this putt on 9 today, and the crowd really went … I walked up to the green, and the crowd really went crazy for me,” he said. At two under, two off the lead of Will Zalatoris and Matt Fitzpatrick, he’ll need to channel his inner-Brady and mount a fourth-quarter charge. Birdies at 13, 14 and 17 switched his Saturday from a round that wasn't even sniffing the television broadcast to a “and now we go over to the 18th tee …” type affair. I could feel the energy change,” he said. “And then I made the putt, and they went wild. Bradley did indeed play it safe, but then he got aggressive with his 172-yard approach shot from the fairway, sticking it to 11 feet and pouring in a round-shifting birdie that changed everything. Bradley has had a more than respectable career since that Ryder Cup, making the team again in 2014 and picking up the most recent of his four tour victories in 2018. “That walk up 18 was the best I've ever felt at a tournament,” Bradley said. “I've been asked about it a ton since I finished,” said Bradley, who made multiple TV stops before meeting with the rest of the media. Moments he hasn’t truly experienced since the 2012 Ryder Cup, where Bradley, alongside American teammate Phil Mickelson, became one of the event’s folk heroes for his big-time putts and the boisterous celebrations they produced. BROOKLINE, Mass. — Keegan Bradley practically sprinted to the scoring tent, knuckling up every single one of his well-served supporters along the way.

Bradley, just two shots off the lead, walked up the 18th fairway to massive cheers.

Bradley was peppered with questions after the round about his Boston sports fandom, and he delivered, citing Tom Brady as the protagonist of most of his favorite memories. Despite all the ticket requests and being surrounded by his extended family, Bradley is keeping his pulse rate low. Advertisement Let’s take this in.’ I didn’t know they were going to do that, and it just made it that much better.” Advertisement Advertisement

Keegan Bradley said it felt like a home game playing the 122nd U.S. Open not far from where the Massachusetts native grew up.

“Playing here, it’s going to be intense, but I’ve had this weird sense of calm over me this week.” “The crowds as usual here in Boston I think are the best in the world.” Every now and then I’ll look, and I’ll see an aunt or an uncle or a friend, and it’s really, really fun,” he said. “Tomorrow is going to be a tough day. Of son Logan, he said, “He thinks we’re on a vacation because he is — his cousins and his family are here. “It brings me such calm to know that he has no idea what sort of stress I’m under right now.” Bradley has had this major circled on his calendar for years and qualified by vaulting back inside the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking with his tie for second in the Wells Fargo Championship in May. He credited his two young kids for helping keep him take his mind off golf when he’s away from the course. It really gave me a jolt of energy,” he said. He’s only finished in the top 10 twice – none since the 2014 U.S. Open. But here he is with a legitimate chance to write his name into Boston sports folklore. “It was one of the most amazing moments of my entire life,” Bradley said. “I was a little kid. Eleven years after Bradley won his lone major title in his major debut, can he go from throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park on Tuesday night to U.S. Open champion?

Professional golf is lonely and it takes you far from home. On Saturday at the U.S. Open, Keegan Bradley was home — and he felt the love.

“I’ve tried really hard this week to look into the crowd and see the people,” he said. He knows the joys of golf’s highest peaks and he knows that you can go years and years before you climb that mountain again — if you ever do. And whatever describes the opposite of lonely, that’s what he felt walking up the final hole. They roared Bradley to the finish and he signed for a Saturday 69 that leaves him T4, two shots back and in the penultimate Sunday pairing alongside Jon Rahm. At No. 9, one of the largest amphitheaters on course, he stuck his approach to 10 feet and poured in a putt with a massive fist-pump in front of a frothy Boston crowd. Bradley has been the man in the arena before, of course. He knows all these things more deeply now: The sacrifices required to get there. “But out here today felt like I was in a home game, which is something that, as a kid, it’s a dream.” But on Saturday, he was the man in the arena. That set up a walk to the 18th green that Bradley says he’ll never forget. He grew up in Woodstock, Vt. and went to high school in Hopkinton, Mass. He bleeds Red Sox red and he spent his childhood obsessing over Bruins and Celtics and Pats and Sox. The names of the guys he used to cheer for from the bleachers — Trot Nixon and Kevin Millar and Troy O’Leary and more — roll off his tongue. There was a slight tremble in his voice as he said it.

Eleven years after Bradley won his lone major title in his major debut, can he win in his home state?

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Keegan Bradley was in his element. He was in a place he had always dreamed of being since he was a sports-junkie kid growing up in Vermont.

Suddenly, Bradley was no longer automatically in the majors and red-carpeted into the team event. “Most of the time I’m playing across the world or the country, and I’m by myself. When he bogeyed Nos. 2, 3 and 6 Saturday, Bradley’s dream of winning his home U.S. Open was slipping away. That win earned him status at all the big events, fast-tracked him onto Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams (on which he thrived). I don’t know if that will be here tomorrow or not.’’ I could feel the energy change. “Tomorrow is going to be a tough day,’’ Bradley said. “I know that. “Honestly, it was one of the most amazing moments of my entire life,’’ an emotional Bradley said afterward. That was a moment I’ll never forget the rest of my life, and I appreciate the fans giving me that, and I hope to have them cheer again [Sunday].’’ BROOKLINE, Mass. — Keegan Bradley was in his element. “As a kid, I dreamed of playing in front of Boston fans and being a Patriot or being in the Garden,’’ Bradley said.