PITTSFORD, N.Y. — The former titleholder was standing behind the 18th green, waiting to greet Jason Dufner, the latest P.G.A. Championship winner. It was not Rory McIlroy, who won last year and finished tied for eighth in his defense.
Bradley will not have Dufner to needle anymore about not having a replica of the Wanamaker Trophy. Dufner, who began the day one stroke behind Furyk, birdied three of the first eight holes to take a lead that a bogey-bogey finish could not blemish. He closed with a two-under 68 for a 10-under 270. Furyk, trying to win his first major title since the 2003 United States Open, carded a 71 that also included a bogey-bogey finish.
Henrik Stenson, who was bidding to become the first Swede to win a men’s major, posted a 70 and finished third, three shots back. It was Stenson’s lowest finish in a month after seconds at the British Open and the World Golf Championships event in Ohio. As he left the 18th green, Stenson pointed at the Wanamaker Trophy and said, “I’ll see you next year.”
Dufner, 36, seemed surprised to see Bradley, wearing basketball shorts and a T-shirt, in the hovering throng of people as he stood over a short bogey putt to seal the win. When it dropped, Dufner celebrated with two fist pumps that could have been mistaken for involuntary twitches. After he hugged his wife, Amanda, Dufner received a bear hug from Bradley, who told him he was proud of him.
“That friendship is just really cool,” Dufner’s wife said. “The way that all came about is really special.”
How the two fierce competitors became fast friends reveals more about Dufner’s personality that he will ever show in public. It was forged in the most awkward of arenas, during the playoff between the two at the 2011 P.G.A. Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club.
Each was gunning for his first major victory. Dufner, a 54-hole co-leader, fell into the three-hole playoff with three late bogeys. In the extra time, Dufner shot one stroke higher than Bradley, who has not let him forget it.
“He’s a good guy and he’s good-hearted about a little ribbing that I give him about that day,” Bradley said.
Now that Dufner has his name on the winner’s trophy, Bradley will have to find something else to give him grief about. One senses that Bradley, 27, is more than up to the challenge.
“He always jabbed at me a little bit about having one in of these in his house,” Dufner said, referring to the trophy, “and thanks for giving it to him and all that stuff. And now I’ve got one, too. It’s pretty neat to come back and win a P.G.A., to be honest.”
Bradley played his final round nearly four hours before Furyk and Dufner, with so much ground to make up that if Oak Hill had been a marathon course, Bradley would not have had the leaders in his sights.
That did not stop Bradley from giving chase. His goal, he said later, was to better the pace set by Dufner on Friday when he posted a course-record 63.
“I wanted to beat Duf’s course record, for sure,” said Bradley, who seemed poised to succeed when he birdied 6 of the first 13 holes to surge into a group behind the lead pack at three under for the tournament.
On the 14th hole, Bradley hit a bark wall. His drive caromed off a tree and he left the green with his first bogey of the day. He made another bogey at the last hole to card a 66 and sew up a tie for 19th.
After signing his scorecard, Bradley said he was looking forward to seeing what kind of finishing kick Furyk and Dufner were able to muster. “I think they are both super intense,” he said. “On Sundays, they wouldn’t be your first choice to go up against.”
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David Cannon/Getty Images
Jason Dufner after his final putt Sunday at Oak Hill Country Club. His bogey-bogey finish did not cost him his first victory in a major.
Keegan Bradley, who won the 2011 event at Dufner’s expense, returned to Oak Hill Country Club from his hotel, where he watched most of Dufner’s two-stroke victory over Jim Furyk while taking to Twitter to provide insider analysis like, “The duff daddy is dialed in.”