With Keegan Bradley having won the FedEx Playoffs BMW Championship Aug. 25, it made one wonder if Bradley is the greatest New England golf professional of all-time?

It was the seventh PGA Tour title for Bradley, who grew up in Woodstock, Vermont, where he was an All-State ski racer in high school. Bradley has done significant things in golf, including being named the United States Ryder Cup team captain for 2025 (Sept. 26-28 at Bethpage Black in New York).

All of this is how the conversation about Bradley being the New England GOAT came up in a discussion with Randy Hodsdon, Maine Golf Tournament Director and an extremely knowledgeable Pine Tree State golf historian.

“It’s not even close,” Hodsdon said in response to the GOAT question.

So, who is that person?

In the opinion of Hodsdon, Henry Pickard of Massachusetts ranks as No. 1. Pickard won 26 tournament championships in the 1930s into the 1940s. He made the cut in more than 90 percent of his pro tournament appearances.

Hodsdon has Julius Boros of Connecticut in the No. 2 spot. Boros won three majors and a total of 18 tournaments from 1952-68.

What about No. 3?

Hodsdon called that a three-way tie between Paul Harney of Massachusetts, Brad Faxon of Rhode Island and Bradley. Harney made the cut in 31 of the 34 majors he played in. Faxon, who now lives in South Carolina, was a good PGA Tour player 1985-2005 with eight tour crowns.

Bradley is young enough to build on his golf resume, and no doubt will be the New England all-time golf prize money leader, if his $43 million so far is not already No. 1 in that category. Add to that figure another $3.6 million which he won at the BMW, held at CastlePines in Colorado.

Bradley was practically born with a golf club in his mouth, because his father, Mark, was a club pro. When Mark Bradley took a head pro job in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Keegan played there during the summers and was Wyoming State Amateur champion, while an undergraduate at St. John’s University in New York. Keegan also was elected to the Wyoming Golf Hall of Fame.

Keegan is now a resident of Jupiter, Florida, but he did live for a while in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. His aunt, Pat Bradley, also a New Englander, is an LPGA Hall of Fame golfer.

For all of the time he resided in New England, Hodsdon cannot recall Bradley ever playing in a Maine golf tournament.

*****

Of note about the BMW Championship is that 48 players won very good money, with $70,000 going to each of the last place players. Not a bad payday for coming in last.

*****

At the Maine Golf Mixed Championship on Aug. 24, Turner Highlands’ Jade Haylock teamed with Brunswick’s Elliot Spaulding to shoot a 4-under 65 to win the event by a substantial margin. It’s the latest in a summer of victories for the 2024 Maine women’s and men’s amateur champions and the winners of the Maine Junior championships.

Danielle Peck and Jace Pearson of Martindale tied for third with a 1-over 70. Tied for sixth were Abby and Trevor Flanagan of Springbrook (71). Tied for 11th were Micki and William Meggison of Spring Meadows (73), with Jamie and Kevin Toohey of Norway (75) tied at 15th, while Leslie Guenther and David Stonebreaker of Mingo Springs, formerly of Norway, (76) tied for 17th.

*****

Maine Golf has women’s play days scheduled for Sept. 3 at The Meadows and Bangor Municipal. A men’s play day also is slated for Sept. 3 at Toddy Brook and another is Sept. 6 at Lakewood.

Bill Kennedy, a retired New Jersey golf writer and editor now residing on Thompson Lake in Otisfield, is in his 12th season as Sun Journal golf columnist.