MARANA, Arizona, Feb 21 (Reuters) – A dumb-founded
Keegan Bradley said even he was taken aback by his excessive
spitting as he watched television replays of his play during the
final round of last week’s Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles.
Bradley ended up losing a three-way playoff for the title at
Riviera Country Club, where fellow American Bill Haas triumphed,
and was initially surprised his on-course expectorating had
sparked widespread criticism on Twitter.
However, once he saw for himself via the telecast how much
he spat during his pre-shot routine, the PGA Championship winner
issued a public apology on his Twitter account.
“To be honest with you, I really had no idea I was doing
it,” Bradley told reporters at Dove Mountain on Tuesday while
preparing for this week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
“And I feel bad.
“It’s something that I’m going to work on and I just ask
everybody to just kind of bear with me as I go through this,
because it’s something I’ve done without even knowing it. I’m
going to truly work on it.
“It might take some time but I will do my best to stop. It’s
something that I’m glad that’s come up, because I’m able to kind
of nip it now. It’s just a thing where I’m watching myself.”
Bradley, who clinched his first major title by beating
compatriot Jason Dufner in a playoff for last year’s PGA
Championship in Atlanta, conceded his lengthy pre-shot routine
was also a concern.
“It’s about visualisation,” the 25-year-old said. “It’s kind
of my way of staying not stagnant. It’s something that you don’t
even really realise you’re doing when you’re in the heat of it.
“I will take a look at it and see if there are any
improvements that I can make. But it’s something that I’ve been
doing and it’s been working. Coming down the stretch, it (the
time) does come up a little bit.
“But it doesn’t seem to affect my ability, which is the most
important,” added Bradley, who earlier was presented with his
trophy for winning the 2011 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year award.
Bradley has been drawn to play against Australian Geoff
Ogilvy, tournament champion in 2006 and 2009, in Wednesday’s
opening round at Dove Mountain.
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Ian Ransom)
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