Keegan Bradley took key putting advice from his mum

Mum knows the long and the short of it for Keegan.

Mum knows best. It’s not the sort of advice you’d expect to find in any golf manual.

But it might just be the key to Keegan Bradley finally establishing himself in the higher echelons of the game.

Anyone watching the 28-year-old from Woodstock fidgeting around before he plays a shot knows immediately this is a guy who simply does not know his own mind! And he has the guts to admit it!

So it comes as no surprise that he is asking everyone starting with his mother what he should do regarding the upcoming putter grip rule change that will affect him more than most!

He reveals: “I was really disappointed with my finish at the Byron Nelson last month, where I tied for 29th. So I actually talked to my mom, of all people, who is a golfer, though not a huge golfer.

“She said: ‘I’m going to tell you something. I don’t think you’re going to like it, but I think you should use the short putter.’

“I hadn’t really put any thought into it up until that point. But I knew I needed something to get me excited about playing because I was struggling.

“I’m aware that people are watching me, and that’s the hardest part. I talked to Phil Mickelson a little bit. I talked to my wife, Jill. My parents. I talked to EVERYBODY!

“I explained to them all that unless something pretty drastic happened in the putter debate, I was going to switch.

“So I swapped my belly putter for a short one, played 36 holes a day for a week with it and I felt better and better with it.”

That was three weeks ago, and nobody should be surprised the 2011 US PGA champion has, for the moment, changed his mind again.

It appears he is always in a quandary about what to do, and confesses his biggest enemy is what is going on between his ears.

“I think my mom knows that, and people around me know that. It weighs on your mind,” he explains.

“You’ve almost got a ticking clock in your head. So I think she knew it might have been a good idea to switch putters. Right now, I am aware people are watching and they’re waiting to see how I do with it.

“I thought my best chance was to get through the Memorial. Then if I did switch back to the belly putter, I didn’t want to have to explain why.

“I thought I could maybe sneak under the radar. But I have to admit it was for my own sanity as much as anything else. I overthink everything!”

With the long putter back in his bag, he finished fourth in the US Open, so it is anybody’s guess which tool he will pull out of the bag when he rolls up for The Open Championship next month.

“I might have a two iron, though,” he reveals.

“When Tiger won at Hoylake, he used his three iron virtually all the time. You can hit some lower shots and keep it close to the ground, stuff like that.

“You’re going to have to adapt every day to the course and to the weather. Links golf throws up very different situations, depending on the conditions.

“You can get your ball to an area a couple of different ways. You can hit a high driver or a low, stinging two iron and end up in the same spot.

“You think a lot more out here. You encounter the unexpected a lot more. The weather could change and all of these practice rounds could be for nothing if the wind is in exactly the opposite direction.

“So it’s a matter of adapting. You’re going to get some funky hops and you’ve got to be ready to accept it.”

And if you can’t, just ask mum!