NORTON, Massachusetts – Pat Bradley jokes that she knew the room was going to be special when she walked in and saw crown molding.
“You don’t put crown molding in just any room,” she noted.
In a quiet moment, after the interview and tour of the sparkling new Pat Bradley Room, the 74-year-old LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer choked up as she reflected on what it meant to have her life’s work so thoughtfully and beautifully displayed for the public to enjoy.
“It’s a team town,” said Bradley, standing in front of a wall full of trophies. “Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics, Patriots. In my day, I was a lonely individual working hard to have a legacy in the world of golf, and lots of times nobody knew what I was doing.”
On Wednesday, much of the sports world’s attention was on Bradley’s nephew Keegan, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain who shocked many when he didn’t pick himself for the team. The decision, however, didn’t surprise Pat.
“He’s been a leader his whole life,” said Bradley, while standing in front of her own Solheim Cup captain’s bag.
“He was made for this moment, and I am so proud of him.”
Pat, of course, hit the first tee shot in Solheim Cup history at the inaugural event in 1990. Her Solheim Cup replica trophy sits in the sea blue room beneath a photo of the original team.
A key figure during what many consider to be the golden era of the LPGA, Bradley won 31 times, including six majors and was twice LPGA Player of the Year.
Perhaps the most legendary item in the Pat Bradley Room is the cowbell her late mother Kay rung from the family home on Main Street in Westford, Massachusetts, every time Bradley won an LPGA tournament. In recent years, the bell had found a home at LPGA headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida. Staff would ring it every time the tour landed a new sponsor or enjoyed some other bit of good news.
Bradley’s six majors championship trophies are on display as well as the irons she used to win the 1981 U.S. Women’s Open, worn down in the sweet spot. There’s the Hogan Award, given to Bradley after she came back from debilitating conditions caused by Graves’ Disease. Bradley, who thought she was having a nervous breakdown from the pressure of winning three majors in 1986, was eventually diagnosed and treated and went on to win nine more times, including the 1991 Rolex Player of the Year award and Vare Trophy.
LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler dropped by the room on Thursday to say hello, and the pair reminisced on a story she’d told earlier in the week about a player who, decades ago, had run over her partner’s unruly putter with her car in the parking lot.
Kessler invited Bradley to his first player meeting on Tuesday at the FM Championship at Gilette Stadium and asked her the podium to close things out. The players gave her a standing ovation.
“She’s such a legend,” gushed Nelly Korda. “Her energy is absolutely amazing.”
Korda got to know Bradley during her time playing for Stacy Lewis at two Solheim Cups. Lewis had placed an emphasis on bringing past captains back into the fold.
Bradley calls being Solheim Cup captain the crown jewel of her career.
When it came time to pack up the house, Mass Golf moved more than 300 pieces of memorabilia. Bradley had kept all her trophies in her home – including the majors – and while she had a security system in place, she always worried.
So what’s in the trophy case now back home in Hyannisport?
“I’ve got seconds and thirds up on the wall,” she said with a smile.
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