Keegan Bradley

Bradley is an odd case in that he appeared to be on his way to greatness early in his career, but he's never quite panned out. That's not to say he's been a disappointment, he did earn a career-high $4 million in 2018, but the consistency has been lacking. There's no question that Bradley has a high upside, but he has trouble grouping strong finishes. He sprouts up every so often, but his trajectory to elite status seems to have passed him by. With that in mind and with his number from 2020-21 being rather high, Bradley does not make for a good salary cap option this season.

Some other players have been able to adjust from the anchoring ban, but Bradley still is not one of them. He was once again around 200th in SG: Putting this past season. Bradley's ball striking was solid, but not as good as prior years, which is the main reason he didn't finish better than T32 after the restart. 2020-21 is anyone's best guess for the 34-year-old.

Bradley's had two distinct careers on the PGA Tour. The first, which occurred during his first four seasons on the PGA Tour, resulted in trips to the TOUR Championship each year. The three seasons that followed resulted in zero trips to the TOUR Championship. A win late in the 2017-2018 season looked to be the spark needed to regain his old form, but the momentum from that win did not carry over to this past season. Bradley played well last season, but outside of a random win here or there, he might just be a guy who'll end up outside the top-30 each season.

It was a long time between victories on the PGA Tour for Bradley, but when he topped Justin Rose at the BMW Championship, he ended a five-year drought. Bradley started his PGA Tour fast, picking up three wins in his first two seasons, including a major, but his decline was nearly as fast as his ascent. Bradley bottomed-out three seasons ago when he failed to crack the $1 million mark, but he showed some progress the following season and he made it all the way back last season. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here as he was pretty much an after through for much of the past few years. Odds are he'll fall back a little this season as he set the bar pretty high last season.

Bradley finally put an end to a four-year slide in earnings last season by more than doubling his salary from the previous season. While that's great news for Bradley, he failed to capture a top-three finish for the third consecutive season. He also set the bar pretty high for a guy that hasn't topped $2 million in earnings since 2014. As such, he's not a great option in salary cap leagues this season.

Not too long ago, Bradley was the next big thing, but fast forward a few years since his lone major and Bradley appears to be spinning his wheel. It all makes for a tough decision on Bradley this year as the potential is there, he's made more in one event than he did all of last year and as already mentioned, he's a major champion, but where is that guy? While it's not likely to see the major-winning Bradley again this year, he's not likely to completely fall off the map either, so he offers a somewhat-high upside, with little risk. In draft leagues, he's bound to go before he should, but he should be a eighth- or ninth-round selection.

One of the more maddening players on the PGA Tour, Bradley seems to have all the skills to be a top-10 players, but for some reason, he can't seem to put it all together. He has a major title under his belt, so the talent and the mental game is there, but to reach his full potential, he'll need to show more consistency. Luckily, his price is in that range where you can take a chance on him with not much risk involved. In draft leagues he's probably a third-round selection at this point.

After an impressive 2012 campaign, Bradley was expected by many to take his game to the next level in 2013. While that didn't happen exactly, he played well enough to give us hope that he's still that guy with all that potential. In that sense, Bradley enters 2014 with a little something to prove. While other players of his caliber, Scott and Rose, were winning majors, Bradley was struggling. Expect Bradley to up his game in 2014 and again become a factor a one or two majors. Bradley should be slotted somewhere around the 10th pick in draft and he provides some value as a salary cap selection as well.

Bradley was a prime candidate to go through a post-major slump in 2012, but he wanted nothing to do with that. Bradley is always mentally there, if you will, so don't expect a long slump anytime soon. With one major under his belt and three career wins, it looks like this is just the beginning for Bradley. A look at his earnings from year one to year two, however, is a little concerning. Bradley earned just less than $3.8 million in 2012 and only beat that mark by roughly $150K last year. Sure, he did so without the benefit of a major win, but it just goes to show how difficult it is to make a big move from year to year when you start at such a high salary. Bradley is not an outrageous pick at his price, but he's certainly a risky one. He'll pick up a win or two this year, but to top his earnings from 2012, he'll have to get those wins in the right spots. He is a late first, early second-round pick in draft leagues.

The surprise of the 2011 season, Keegan Bradley came out of nowhere to capture two wins during his rookie season, including the PGA Championship in August. Considering that Bradley didn't come into the 2011 season with lofty expectations, you have to wonder if the season was a fluke. That's not to say that he can't continue at this level, it's just that when players outperform expectations by as much as Bradley did last year, you have to take a step back and consider all the possibilities.

Bradley finished inside the top-25 on the Nationwide Tour last season in what was his rookie season on that tour. It's unlikely, though, that he can pull another rabbit out of his hat this season on the PGA TOUR. A case of too much too soon.