Keegan Bradley (Getty Images)
Keegan Bradley was heading into a meet-and-greet yesterday afternoon that can normally test the patience of a professional golfer preparing for the opening round of an important tournament. But this was different. Bradley was about to mingle with about 50 St. John’s alumni and staff assembled in a corporate tent along the 17th green at Bethpage Black.
The PR rep had promised Bradley he didn’t have to stay beyond a 30-minute time limit. But as one of golf’s rising stars — no, make that current stars — Bradley didn’t want to come off as aloof. “I want to do the right thing,” he whispered to the PR rep.
As far as the St. John’s family is concerned, Bradley has been doing all the right things for some time now. “He’s the ideal student-athlete,” said St. John’s athletic director Chris Monasch. “He’s just a wonderful representative for our university just the way he carries himself and deals with people. It’s very exciting to watch.”
The gathering at the 17th came after Bradley finished playing in the pro-am and sitting for a press conference. It was intended to “celebrate his success and give our alumni and donors and fans a chance to mingle with him,” Monasch said.
Bradley didn’t mind. He was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year last year, won the 2011 PGA Championship in his first appearance in a major, captured the WGC-Bridgestone this month and has qualified for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. But he still bleeds St. John’s red.
He was up tweeting late Tuesday after hearing two Red Storm golfers, Pat Wilson and Ryan McCormick, shot 65 and 67, respectively, in the first round of the Met Open at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey.
“I’m very proud of these guys,” Bradley explained. “I want to be a part of it. I can relate to them, what they’re going through. I mean, these guys could win every tournament they played in and no one would ever know. I want to be there for these guys because they’re all going to turn pro. They’re all good enough. And I want to make sure they feel comfortable coming to me with anything.”
If there’s such a thing as a homecoming game in golf, this is it for Bradley. He tees off today in the first round of The Barclays on a course he played often as a collegian. Back then, Craig Currier, the course superintendent through the 2009 U.S. Open, would allow the Johnnies’ golfers to play the Black on Mondays when the course was closed.
A few rules might have been ignored by having the golf team on the course, but looking back, breaking protocol was worth it. “For them it was like going to Augusta,” said Currier, who was part of the gathering yesterday. “They absolutely loved it.”
It’s a memory Bradley cherishes. “We’d start on the third hole and play because there was nobody out here,” he said. “We could play all in one group, seven, eight guys just having such fun. Little matches and basically having Bethpage Black to ourselves. I don’t know if there’s anybody in the world that’s ever experienced that. Normally, you’re out here, it’s a six-hour round. It’s brutal.”
He last played the Black in the 2008 New York State Open shortly after he turned pro. He has come a long way in the short time since. No one is more proud of his success than St. John’s coach Frank Darby, whose golf program no longer has to take a back seat to those in Florida, Texas or any other warm-weather state.
“I was honored to be his coach and I was honored to have somebody like him on our team,” Darby said. “He’s a great human being. He shows people he cares. I’m proud to have him as a friend.”
The 30 minutes turned into an hour and Bradley was still chatting with anyone who had SJ on their chest. He was in no rush to leave. It’s Homecoming Weekend.
george.willis@nypost.com
The hole picture
Bethpage Black will play as a 7,468-yard, par-71 beast. Every shot and every hole will be important, but here’s a look at the four holes that will hold the key to victory:
No. 5, 478 yards, Par 4 (below)
Good luck trying to place a tee shot on the right side of the fairway without rolling into the sand. Stay left and the approach will be blocked out by the trees. Par is good here, but bogey puts you in an early hole.
No. 13, 608 yards, Par 5
Players will lose a stroke to the field if they don’t make birdie here. To do that, they must carry the cross bunker and avoid the bunkers on the left side of the fairway and rough to the right.
No. 15, 478 yards, Par 4
Anyone who has played the Black knows this hole is brutal. The green sits 50 feet above the fairway and the only way to reach it in two is to place a perfect tee shot long and in the fairway. Make birdie here and you’ve gained a stroke and half on the field.
No. 17, 207 yards, Par 3
Guarded by bunkers and fescue, an accurate shot on the proper tier of the two-tier green is the only way to make birdie. It’s going to be noisy. Surrounded by skyboxes and grandstands, the green will be surrounded by an estimated 5,000 people.