Bradley disappointed he doesn't have a shot

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Keegan Bradley is good enough to be disappointed.

The St. John's graduate and Wheatley Hills member, who won the PGA Championship last August, had none of the impressed, optimistic energy he had shown throughout his first Masters. There was no more of his just-happy-to-be-here awe after the third round Saturday. Bradley believed he should have had a shot to win.

"It is what it is. It's just not my week," he said after having shot 1-over-par 73 to go to 5 over for 54 holes. "I kind of played like that all week: just playing really well and catching a few bad breaks.

"I played really well today. It's too bad. I played better than that score," Bradley said without the usual bounce in his voice.

In his first Masters news conference Tuesday, he joked that he never had failed to win a major he had entered. It had the self-deprecating tone of a neophyte. But as the week went on, he seemed to grow in confidence that he could contend. That made his 77 Friday and his round Saturday frustrating.

He probably would have felt better had he not double-bogeyed 18 Saturday: a tee shot into the right trees, a punch out, a good approach that rolled just off the back of the green and three putts.

"I missed that little ridge by three inches or else I might have had three inches for par," he said of the approach. "It was just one of those days where you miss spots by a couple inches and you just have no chance from there."

Now he has no chance to win the Masters.

"I just needed to go low, but it's a tough course to do that on," he said.

At least he was not alone in disappointment. He played Saturday with Luke Donald, the world's No. 1-ranked player, who never did get anything going. His 75 left him at 7 over.

"There's nothing worse than waking up on Sunday knowing that no matter what you do, it's not going to be enough," Donald said. "I feel a little flat right now, to be honest. I had high hopes, high expectations this week."