Keegan Bradley of the USA fired a superb final round of 64 to win the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Ohio by a single shot from his countrymen Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker.

Bradley stood on the final tee a shot behind Furyk who had led the tournament all week following a first round of 63. It looked as though Furyk would do enough to close out the event after Bradley found a plugged lie in the greenside bunker on the 72nd hole. But Furyk also failed to get onto the 18th green in regulation and was left with a difficult pitch from the rough to the right side of the putting surface.

Furyk didn’t reach the green with his pitch before Bradley blasted out, leaving himself a 20-foot putt for par. Furyk then pitched on with his fourth shot, ending some five feet from the cup.

Bradley steadied himself and holed his putt. That meant Furyk had to hole his bogey effort to force a playoff. He stood over the ball, backed off then re-made his stance before pushing the putt past the right edge. The title was Bradley’s and Furyk did well to hole the return putt and secure a tie for second with Steve Stricker.

It was Bradley’s third PGA Tour victory and his first since claiming the 2011 USPGA Championship 51 weeks ago.

Louis Oosthuizen had a good week to finish alone in fourth, two behind Bradley. British stars Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose shared a tie for fifth.

WGC – Bridgestone Invitational
Firestone Country Club, Akron, Ohio
Aug 2-5, purse $8,500,000, par 70

1   Keegan Bradley (USA)   67   69   67   64   267  
T2   Steve Stricker (USA)   68   68   68   64   268  
T2   Jim Furyk (USA)      63   66   70   69   268  
4   Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)   67   65   68   69   269  
T5   Justin Rose (Eng)      70   69   66   67   272  
T5   Rory McIlroy (NIR)   70   67   67   68   272   
7   Jason Dufner (USA)   67   66   73   68   274  
T8   Aaron Baddeley (Aus)   73   66   71   66   276  
T8   Tiger Woods (USA)   70   72   68   66   276  
T8   Matt Kuchar (USA)   70   70   70   66   276    
T8   K.J. Choi (Kor)      71   72   67   66   276  
T8   David Toms (USA)   68   67   73   68   276  
T8   Lee Slattery (Eng)   65   71   72   68   276  
T8   Luke Donald (Eng)   66   69   71   70   276  
T8   Bo Van Pelt (USA)   70   70   69   66   71   276  

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage