Keegan Bradley, Anirban Lahiri, Paul Casey All Leave the Players Wondering: What If?

Poor shots, unlucky bounces and penalties were the undoing for a number of chasers in a stop-and-start, wild weather week at the Players Championship.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The only thing lower than his voice was his head. Keegan Bradley had a difficult time looking up. His eyes misty, his words barely audible, the pain apparent.

Even for the best players in the world, winning opportunities do not always present themselves frequently. For Bradley, a major championship winner in his rookie season who has not won in four years, getting so close Monday at the Players Championship was hardly any consolation.

Failing to produce with so much at stake inflicted the ultimate pain, on top of a brutal, numbingly difficult weather week.

“Man, I’m so bummed out,’’ said Bradley, who finished bogey-double bogey at TPC Sawgrass and to finish four strokes behind winner Cameron Smith and in fifth place. “That was tough. I played really well today. Really well all week. I had a two-shot penalty on Friday and still was right there.

“I’m sorry. I’m having a hard time thinking of words to say. I’m pretty bummed out, but proud of the way I played. Proud of the way (caddie) Scottie (Vale) and I battled out there.’’

Smith, the Australian who set a scoring record earlier this year at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, prevailed after his own battle, making 10 birdies in the final round but also overcoming a three-bogey stretch and an inexplicable punch shot into the water at the 18th.

Still, the five-time PGA Tour winner managed to one-putt 13 greens, including eight of his last nine and a gutsy up-and-down after finding the water at 18 to make a bogey and preserve what turned out to be a one-shot victory over India’s Anirban Lahiri.

All who came up short could point to their moment of distress. For Lahiri, ranked 322nd in the world at the start of the week, it was the par-3 eighth hole, where his wild tee shot well left of the green resulted in a crushing double-bogey 5. That he battled back to give himself a chance was impressive, but ultimately too much to overcome.

“For me, I’m just relieved,’’ said Lahiri, who earned $2.2 million for his runner-up finish. “I’ve gone through two years of playing horrible. The last time I contended in a field this could was maybe five years ago at Memorial. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in this position and since I’ve played in a quality field like this.

“It’s huge because when you go through such a lean period for such a long time, you start asking yourself, man, who that a flash in the pan? What are you doing? You haven’t played good in so long. The belief takes a hit.’’

Paul Casey could also wonder. The Englishman was bidding for the biggest victory of his career and played quite steady, with four birdies and a single bogey. But needing a birdie at the par-5 16th, his tee shot bounded into the fairway and came to rest ... in a pitch mark.

Because it was not his, Casey was not entitled to relief. Instead of being able to go for the green, Casey felt he had no choice but to lay up.

“You need a little bit of luck sometimes, don’t you?’’ said Casey, who parred the last six holes and finished two back of Smith. “That wasn’t very good luck, was it? Deep down I wanted to go for it out of that lie, but it felt too risky. I thought I could still make birdie, and then who knows what happens over the last two. Look what happened over the last hole. It would have been brave, but maybe foolish to try to go for it. It’s a shame. It was the best drive I hit all day.’’

Bradley felt like he couldn’t play much better. He hit 14 of 18 greens and needed just 28 putts. But he’s had his share of despair in recent times, coming into the tournament ranked 88th in the world and needing a victory to qualify for the Masters.

A winner three times in his first two seasons, including the 2011 PGA Championship, he’s had just one victory since – the 2018 BMW Championship. He had just six top-10 finishes since that win before Monday.

A member of a couple of U.S. Ryder Cup teams early in his career, Bradley was thrown off by the United States Golf Association’s ban on anchored putting strokes that began in 2016. He admits that ruling, one he never saw coming, impacted him greatly as he sought another method.

Playing well in brutal conditions Saturday, Bradley was dinged by the rule book as he was assessed a two-shot penalty on the 16th hole; after making his ball, a wind gust moved the ball. Bradley replaced it, but was supposed to play it from where the ball came to rest. That turned a par 5 into a 7. And those two shots hung over him Monday as he chased, caught and ultimately fell behind Smith.

“I think the USGA needs to smarten up and change that rule; it’s so silly,’’ Bradley said. “They try to make the rules easier, and they never get it right.

“They told me on the second hole, which was my 11th, and blowing 30 miles an hour. I was 3 under at the time and it got me so pissed off that it refocused me. And I tried to tell myself that maybe this is going to make me shoot a lower score in the end. It was a fluke thing and a million things had to happen all at once.’’

Bradley said he tried to use it as motivation during the final round, and at one point he birdied four straight holes – the 9th through the 12th – to pull into a tie for the lead. He added birdies at the 15th and 16th to keep himself to keep himself right there with Smith.

But pitching wedge shot to the par-3 17th got caught in the wind, leaving himself a 70-foot putt. He three-putted to drop a shot, then found himself behind a tree at the 18th, tried to pull off a difficult shot and found the water leading to a double bogey.

“Man, I played so good,’’ he said. “It’s a bummer.’’

He was not alone in feeling that way.