Keegan Bradley takes talk with Golden Bear to heart

Before winning the 2011 Mas­ters Tournament, Charl Schwart­zel had an in-depth conversation with the greatest green jacket winner of them all, Jack Nicklaus.

Keegan Bradley is hoping his talk with the Golden Bear will yield similar results in his Masters debut.

“I told him I wanted to sit down and talk to him about Augusta,” Bradley said of his meeting with Nicklaus in Florida. “It’s just really cool to get to know some of these guys I’ve looked up to my whole life.”

The 25-year-old is seeking his second major win in as many starts. His victory at the PGA Cham­pion­ship in August made him the third golfer in the past century to claim a major championship in his first appearance, joining fellow New Englander Francis Ouimet (1913 U.S. Open) and Ben Curtis (2003 British Open).

Bradley, a Vermont native who now lives in Jupiter, Fla., overcame a five-shot deficit on the final three holes at the Atlanta Athletic Club. He birdied Nos. 16 and 17, then outlasted Jason Dufner in a playoff.

Now, Bradley will fulfill a dream. As a member of the Hoot­ers Tour, the blue-eyed Bradley played in the 2009 event in Mc­Cormick, S.C., an hour from Au­gusta.

He made a side trip down Wash­ington Road, parking his raggedy Ford Focus – with side mirrors held on with duct tape – across the street from Augusta National Golf Club. He sat and stared down Magnolia Lane.

In February, Bradley drove down the famous entranceway, playing Augusta National for the first time with his father. He came away impressed.

“I’m really looking forward to playing Augusta,” he said. “The doglegs right really suit my eye well.”

Bradley commemorated his trip with a photo of Magnolia Lane. He posted it on Twitter and immediately took it down.

“You’re not allowed to do that up there at Augusta,” he said. “You didn’t see it.”

Bradley, the nephew of LPGA Hall of Famer Pat Bradley, has risen fast thanks to his workman-like style.

On the Hooters Tour for parts of 2008 and 2009, he won twice. In 2010, he finished 14th on the Nationwide Tour money list to earn his PGA Tour card.

Bradley had mixed success until he won the HP Byron Nelson Cham­pionship in May in a playoff. Three months later, he captured an unlikely major in the Peach State.

Now, he’s hoping to take Georgia by storm again. Bradley already did some prep work by meeting with Nicklaus. Also, he planned to play a few rounds with three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson.

“We have talked about some of the lines to hit on some of the holes,” Bradley said. “He’ll want to beat me and we’ll play a little match, but he’ll tell me he aims at this branch or this little thing over here.”