Tommy Fleetwood's Choke Job, The Keegan Bradley Ryder Cup Blame Game, And A PGA Tour Schedule Lull

The finish that played out during the final round of the Travelers Championship leaves us with more questions than answers, which may very well be the greatest selling point for these PGA Tour signature events and why us golf sickos just can't get enough of this oh-so-fickle sport.

It's not too bold of a prediction to sit here on June 23, 2025, and say that Tommy Fleetwood will never have a better opportunity to win a PGA Tour event than he did on Sunday at the Travelers. There are multiple layers to dissect when it comes to him not getting the job done, but there is no dancing around the fact that he choked the tournament away.

Keegan Bradley just so happened to be the man to take advantage of Fleetwood's play down the stretch, and thanks to an incredibly hot putter during the final round, the entire dynamic around him potentially being a playing captain at the Ryder Cup has drastically changed.

We'll get into it all, and look at the not-so-great weeks ahead on the PGA Tour slate, in this week's edition of Par Talk. Reach out with thoughts, concerns, or anything else you may want to discuss at mark.harris@outkick.com or on X at @itismarkharris.

Two Things Can Be True About Tommy Fleetwood's Loss At The Travelers

There is no dancing around it; Tommy Fleetwood choked away the Travelers Championship, and anyone suggesting that he didn't is simply wrong.

The Englishman began the final round of the Travelers Championship with a three-shot advantage. That lead was quickly erased, but after settling into things after making the turn, Fleetwood held a two-shot lead with seven holes to play, only to go on and bogey two of his final three holes en route to a T-2 finish.

For as much as you can tip your cap to Keegan Bradley making birdie on the final hole to win the tournament, you can equally criticize Fleetwood's play on Sunday afternoon. After hitting 14-of-14 fairways on Saturday, Fleetwood only hit eight on Sunday, was 2-for-5 in scrambling, and had no feel with the putter in his hand. Couple those things while trying to break the most ridiculous winless spell in PGA Tour history, and things aren't going to turn out well, and they didn't.

Fleetwood has now recorded 42 Top 10 finishes in 159 starts on the PGA Tour, which is the most by any player without a win in the last 40 years.

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Now, just as we can say that his Sunday performance was a slow-burn choke job, we can also say that it was downright pitiful to watch, given just how likable Fleetwood is. There were plenty of folks pulling for Bradley to come back and win the golf tournament in Connecticut, as he is a New England guy himself, but it's safe to assume plenty of those same fans would have been okay seeing Fleetwood finally earn his maiden win on Tour.

Fleetwood has had to live years now as ‘the guy who can’t win on Tour,' and his fallout on Sunday will only add yet another layer of pressure to that reputation he's earned. But, as one of the most genuine guys out there who has gotten close to getting over the hump so many times, answered the tough questions, and still turned up to keep chasing that elusive victory, is admirable, especially because he knows it as well as any of his critics or fans that his game is plenty strong enough to win on Tour.

Fleetwood taking the time to speak with the media after choking away a golden opportunity at the Travelers is the prime example that he's just a guy who gets it.

Dissecting The Keegan Bradley - Ryder Cup Situation That Just Took On A New Level

The PGA of America took on multiple risks when it named Keegan Bradley captain of the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup Team back in July 2024. The first and most obvious risk was that Bradley would be a captain with zero experience, while also being the second-youngest to ever take on the role in U.S. team history. The other risk - or maybe potential mess is the better phrase to use - is that Bradley could play well enough to play his way onto the team, which would then put both himself and the PGA of America in a very tough spot on what to do next.

Well, that mess is officially unfolding after Bradley's win at the Travelers, which moved him up eight spots in the U.S. team rankings to ninth overall. The top six in the rankings automatically qualify for the 12-man team.

We have three months between now and the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black at the end of September, and a whole lot of meaningful golf to be played until then, which would lead to the idea that everything will fall into place. Maybe it will, or maybe it won't with regard to Bradley making the team as a player, playing captain, or the PGA of America pivoting to another captain if Bradley automatically qualifies.

Again, that will all play itself out, but it feels worth pointing out that this situation is not one that Keegan Bradley should be taking any blame for. 

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For those claiming that Bradley accepted the role of captain and should therefore remove himself from having any chance to make the team, well, that seems counterproductive when the whole point of a team event is putting together the best team. If the team were to be picked today, it is an inarguable fact that it would be better with Bradley on it than not. He's the ninth-best player in the world and the fifth-best American player according to Data Golf.

Bradley shouldn't feel at fault, nor should he be receiving any, for simply playing great golf leading into a Ryder Cup he's meant to captain. What was he supposed to do, play some super-light schedule as a 39-year-old?

We've Hit ‘That’ Point Of The PGA Tour Schedule

After two straight whirlwind weeks of the U.S. Open followed by an epic finish at the Travelers, the final signature event of the year, we've got a two-week stretch of the Rocket Classic and John Deere Classic before taking things across the pond to get prepared for The Open.

The dog days of summer have arrived on the PGA Tour, although the Rocket and John Deere typically provide some fireworks and tend to make way for some unique winners. We diehards will watch anything golf-related, but it is a bit of a grind the next two weeks.

One interesting note about this week's Rocket Classic in Detroit is that Keegan Bradley is one of just two Top 10 players in the world in the field, at the time of this writing. He's clearly going to try and ride momentum and perhaps throw an even bigger wrinkle into the Ryder Cup conversation with another solid week.