Bradley caps 'dream' season with Grand Slam win

Bradley finished one shot clear of the determined South African who carded a fantastic six under par 65 in windy conditions at Port Royal.

Bradley held his nerve when it mattered and played a memorable tee shot straight at the pin on the precarious 16th, before sliding a huge second shot on to the green at the 17th within a few feet of the flag.

The latter especially was a brave shot that flirted with the water’s edge, but ultimately won him the tournament.

He said: “It feels great. It was a lot more intense than I thought it was going to be, maybe because of the players that were here. I'm sure everybody wanted to win it and coming down the stretch, it felt like any other tournament that I played in. It was very, very intense, and I was nervous over that five-footer to win.”

The new Grand Slam winner picked up a cheque for $600,000 as well as the prized pink jacket.

He added: “This is a really very nice way to top off the season, and it's been crazy.

“If you would have told me at the beginning of the year I would have won the Grand Slam of Golf tournament, I probably would have laughed at you. It all kind of seems like a dream right now.”

Bradley started the second day tied for the lead with Irishman Rory McIlroy and it looked like the duo would be fighting a two-way battle at the top of the leader board.

Schwartzel was seven shots adrift of the leaders and few had given him a chance of contesting the title.

But the Masters champion hit an incredible run of form on the front nine knocking in five back-to-back birdies.

His putter did most of the damage but he finished the front nine with a majestic chip in from the bunker.

At the turn Bradley, Schwartzel and McIlroy were all in contention, but McIlroy could not muster a birdie on the back nine and fell off the pace as the holes slipped away. The Irishman finished at even par after the two rounds.

That left Bradley and Schwartzel trading blows at the top.

But the South African just could not get back on level terms with the American and ultimately ran out of holes.

He did have one last chance at 18 to take the game into a play-off but his putt slid by the edge of the cup and the day belonged to Bradley.

Schwartzel said: “Today was tough. The wind was very strong. It made shots difficult.

“The only way I thought there was any chance for me was to have weather like this. If it was a good day, we were in there just to be spectators.

“I was happy to see the wind up. I know I can play well in the wind. It's a matter of making a few putts out there, and you know, I started getting it going.”

Referring to his chance on the 18th he added: “I hit a great putt, about a meter to go, it looked like it was going to be middle.”

As for the two Irishmen in the field, it was not to be their day.

McIlroy could not buy a birdie all day and only had four bogeys and pars to show for his round.

He said: “I didn't quite have control of the golf ball like I did yesterday.  It was tough; the wind out there was tough.  It was tricky.”

While Darren Clarke failed to capture the talent and touch that had brought him the Open Championship.