Pat Bradley couldn't be more happy about nephew's win

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Keegan Bradley is now 30 wins away from catching his Aunt Pat, who won 31 times, including six majors.

When the putt disappeared into the cup on 17 Sunday afternoon at TPC Four Seasons, Pat Bradley jumped so high, she almost hit her head on the ceiling of her Cape Cod house.

Really.

No blood. No foul. Just serious, out-of-her-mind excitement.

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Some 25 years after she won three of the LPGA's four majors, her nephew Keegan was about to win his first PGA TOUR event. It just happened he was born after her wins at the then-Nabisco Dinah Shore and the LPGA Championship. And this was unfolding just, oh, 10 days before his 25th birthday. And five months into his rookie season.

Let's just say it didn't get much better than Sunday afternoon in the bell-ringing Bradley households. Only this time, one house had to scramble to find a bell.

The one Keegan's grandmother Kathleen rang after all of Pat's wins was in Pat's locker at the World Golf Hall of Fame. But Kathleen found one and -- about an hour after her daughter's brush with the ceiling -- she was ringing it for her grandson, the 2011 HP Byron Nelson champ. His dad Mark was ringing another -- a real cow bell -- 2,000 miles away in Jackson Hole, Wyo., to welcome in part II of the family tradition.

And Tuesday, Aunt Pat was rethinking her decision to let the original bell out on loan.

"Little did I know my nephew was going to be a winner this early in his career . . . '' she chuckled.

It wasn't a surprise that Keegs, as she calls him, won. Just that he did it less than halfway through his first year on TOUR.

"I really believed he had the right stuff, but to bring it out in five months was just over the top,'' said Bradley, who won 31 tournaments, including six majors.

" ... We have not taken a deep breath yet. We really are on cloud nine. We're smiling from ear-to-ear.''

When Pat heard the wind was up again Sunday at Las Colinas, she thought back to the final round at the Valero Texas Open last month. Keegan closed with a 68 to tie for ninth, his second top-10 of the season.

"That last round in San Antonio, the winds were howling and he was the only player who didn't make a bogey that Sunday,'' Pat said. I thought Keegs mastered the wind in San Antonio, so this could be his day.''

She was so right. While most of the field was falling back, Keegan put his head down and rammed forward. And on a day when bogeys were all over players' cards, Keegan had just one -- at the fourth hole.

But back to 17. And that par. Forget about the leap.

"That putt was the key to going forward,'' Pat said. "It gave him the strength and confidence to play 18 correctly and then play it well in the playoff, too.''

He texted her an hour or so later. "Still with tournament people." She texted back, "Keegs, that's OK. Have fun. Enjoy.''

And when he did call?

"I told him how proud I was,'' Pat said. "I told him the putt on 17 was key. I said, 'You know, Keegs, at this moment, your life is going to change, but don't you change.' He said 'I won't. I promise.' ''

Pat needed a little more time to get into the winner's circle. She joined the LPGA Tour in 1974 and her first win -- not to mention six runner-up finishes -- came in 1976. "It took me a little bit longer, but Keegan has been wanting this for a very long time,'' she said. "It's been his dream to be a PGA TOUR player and walk alongside Phil Mickelson and Freddie Couples.''

Pat watched her nephew play junior golf. She watched him take on his favorite course -- Bethpage Black -- in college and was downright impressed. She watched him win on the Hooters Tour and display a consistency.

Now this. And, it doesn't take her long to remind you about next April, either.

She's already told Keegan to rent the biggest house he can find in Augusta because the whole clan will be there to watch him play in his first Masters. It'll be her first time to see the course, too.

"I said I'm going to wait until my nephew gets in,'' she laughed, "so I'm headed there. I can't wait."

Did she mention she was proud? Aunts tend to do that. Just like moms and dads. All of which reminded her of the last J.C. Penney Mixed Team Classic in 1999 at Innisbrook. She asked if she could team up with brother Mark and organizers said yes.

On Mark's bag? A 13-year-old Keegan. "It was wonderful,'' Pat said. "A lot of fun."

So was Sunday.

Pat's never been more than a phone call away for Keegs. His dad taught him the game, she's on the long-distance advisory-support-bell ringing staff.

Which is why she was also quick to remind him to enjoy the win and move on. This week he has the Memorial. Monday, the U.S. Open sectional qualifier for a chance to tee it up at Congressional Country Club.

If he makes it, Aunt Pat will be in the gallery. She might still be on cloud nine. Guarantee she'll still be grinning from ear-to-ear.

"So,'' she said, "he is off and running and I don't have to worry anymore how he's doing out there. He's embraced it so well. He's a natural."

Sounds like he takes after his aunt, all of which means more brushes with ceilings and more clanging bells.

Now about that item she loaned to the World Golf Hall of Fame ...