BROOKLINE, Mass. — New Englander Keegan Bradley is looking forward to a big weekend in Boston sports.
And taking part in it, too.
The Vermont native – and relative of Red Sox Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk – threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park on Tuesday. Bradley will miss Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night because he’ll be playing in the U.S. Open.
“Jeez, what a time to be in Boston,” said Bradley, who attended the Ryder Cup as a child when it was played at The Country Club in 1999. “I wish I wasn’t playing in the tournament so I could have fun with all these sporting events. Really, really awesome.”
Bradley played in the U.S. Open nine straight years before missing it last year. He didn’t qualify for Brookline until he finished second at the Wells Fargo on May 8 to move into the top 60 in the rankings.
“I was pretty bummed out. But the silver lining was I was here,” he said. “I don’t take this for granted. I don’t know when the next time a major will be in Boston, so this is cool.”
The 2011 PGA Championship winner, Bradley’s best finish at the U.S. Open was a tie for fourth in 2014. He hasn’t survived the cut since 2017.
But he said he was even more nervous on the mound at Fenway Park, where his wife, Jillian’s, “Uncle Pudge” played from 1972-80.
“I kept telling many I wife, ‘Why did I agree to do this?’” he said. “This is all I need this week, you know, is the pressure. Every time I walk through the player dining, they’re all, like, ‘I’m going to the game. I’m videoing it. You better throw a good one.’
“I was actually standing behind the mound … things were getting fuzzy. That’s how uncomfortable I was,” he said. “Sometimes in my life there are moments that are shocking, and being out on that mound at Fenway Park with my family there and playing here is really surreal. Truly it is.”
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