CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Keegan Bradley booked a flight back to Florida a week ago, convinced his season was over, a missed opportunity.

Now he’s a tournament winner again and heads to the final PGA Tour event in Atlanta, where he has a realistic chance to win the FedEx Cup title and a $25 million bonus.

It’s not so crazy to watch the BMW Championship from the sidelines, finish last in the field and then win the tournament, which shoots you up the rankings.

MORE: Final result, prize money of the BMW Championship

“I know it’s kind of dumb; man, I’ll take it,” Bradley said after his victory at the BMW Championship on Sunday. “When I got here this week, I honestly didn’t think I was going to Atlanta. Scottie (Vale), my caddie, asked me if I wanted to know where I had to finish, and I said no. I still don’t know. But I knew it had to be really high.

“Playing this week – last week I was looking at the rankings the whole time, and this week that wasn’t on my mind at all. I was just trying to win the tournament. Maybe I can. I’m playing great. I feel very lucky to be in Atlanta. It’s a big accomplishment to make the Tour Championship two years in a row.”

With a final round of 72 at Castle Pines, the 38-year-old Bradley won for the seventh time in his career, moving one stroke ahead of Adam Scott, Ludvig Åberg and Sam Burns, who shot a final round of 65.

With his victory, the 2011 PGA Championship winner moved from 50th in the FedEx Cup standings (only 50 players have made it to the BMW Championship) to fourth. That means he will begin play Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, four strokes behind Scottie Scheffler in the tiered stroke format used to determine the FedEx Cup champion.

While no one would want to give Scheffler that advantage, the player who is ranked No. 1 in the official world golf rankings has traveled to Atlanta for the past two years and has never won the top prize.

And this week Bradley was even 13 strokes better than Scheffler.

All this after I was in Memphis a week ago brooding about not making the BMW field. Finishing in the top 50 was the big prize, because that means spots in all the major events next year.

The 2025 US Ryder Cup captain was disappointed that he would not be participating in those tournaments next year.

“I was devastated,” Bradley said. “I finished my round on Sunday. I’m walking around the range and watching people warming up and who’s going to decide my future, honestly. I packed all my stuff. I went to the hotel. I booked a flight home. I didn’t think I was going to make it.

“I had the cover on. I had my iPad on the holes shown. I had my phone in view. On two separate occasions I had to unplug my phone because it was getting too hot from refreshing it every second.

“I imagined that next year I wouldn’t know where I would play. It would be tough for my family, tough for me. I was really disappointed that I wouldn’t be there with the boys with the Ryder Cup coming up.

“Now imagine I’m not going to play, I have to travel to these tournaments. I want to be in the last groups with these guys. I want to see how they make the cut on Friday. I want to see how they treat their other players in the locker room, on flights to and from tournaments. Everything counts.

“I really saw that slipping away. There was a moment late in the day where I looked at the leaderboard and thought, I’m going to make it, and it was just surreal. I rushed to the airport and came here.”

Bradley said he played quietly all week, knowing he had a schedule set for next year.

On Thursday he took the lead with a first-round score of 66 and was in the final group with Scott on both Saturday and Sunday.

Bradley made just two birdies on a tough final day, but Scott couldn’t put enough pressure on him and made three straight bogeys to start the back nine. He still had a shot at the 18th if he could sink a birdie putt, but when he missed, Bradley was able to make two putts for the win.

Both Bradley and Scott, who entered 41st, advanced to the Tour Championship, along with Tommy Fleetwood and Chris Kirk. Brian Harman, Jason Day, Davis Thompson and Denny McCarthy were the four players who had been in the top 30 and were knocked out, ending their seasons.

“I’m disappointed I didn’t win today, but I’m happy I’m going to East Lake because it wasn’t on my cards a couple weeks ago,” said Scott, who was hoping for his first win in more than four years. “I played well. After a couple days of rest and getting my head into the week ahead, it’ll be nice to play a couple of good rounds and try to find my way up the leaderboard at East Lake.”

Bradley received a lot of support all week and was embraced by fans who chanted USA at the Ryder Cup captain. He enjoyed it and made sure he enjoyed it after he sealed his victory.

“When I play golf, I always try to suppress my emotions, good or bad,” he said. “When I get a chance to win on the 18th hole, I’ve only done it seven times, so I always try to take a moment to really enjoy it, not underreact to that situation. I really want to take it all in because I haven’t won for a big part of my career, and I’ve kind of taken it for granted.

“It’s about letting all those emotions flow. It’s all those hours of practice away from the family. That’s what makes it all worth it.”