{"id":402550,"date":"2025-09-06T11:46:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T11:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/402550\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T11:46:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T11:46:10","slug":"keegans-heart-pick-ballo-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/402550\/","title":{"rendered":"Keegan’s heart pick: Ballo Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"Former St. John\u2019s teammates (from left) George Zolotas, Kevin Velardo, Casey Calmi, Keegan Bradley, Mike Ballo Jr. and Evan Beirne celebrate Bradley being named Ryder Cup captain in 2024 at the NASDAQ building in New York City\u2019s Times Square. Courtesy Mike Ballo Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Connecticut State Golf Association photo of Mike Ballo Jr., proudly holding the Connecticut Open trophy, received a \u201clike\u201d from U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley.<\/p>\n

Bradley didn\u2019t just like that his former St. John\u2019s University teammate had triumphed in a grueling final-round performance. He saw it. At the PGA Tour\u2019s Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, Bradley watched the live stream on the CSGA\u2019s YouTube channel as Ballo beat the oppressive heat and the field at Black Hall Club in Old Lyme, Connecticut.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey [St. John\u2019s teammates] support me, so I love supporting them,\u201d Bradley said during the PGA Tour\u2019s FedEx Cup playoffs. \u201cI love watching them play, more than them watching me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradley said he\u2019s \u201cextremely proud\u201d of Ballo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really cool that he saw the live stream,\u201d Ballo said.<\/p>\n

What Bradley and those at Black Hall Club saw was historic and memorable. Ballo, his father Mike Ballo Sr. (1969 and \u201978) and brother Peter (2021 and \u201922) are the first family to have three victorious members in the 91-year tournament history.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ballo\u2019s pride extends beyond the $15,000 prize as the low professional in the Open field. His perseverance and skills are lifelong memories. He had finished second in the Connecticut Open in 2014 and \u201916 and tied for third last year.<\/p>\n

This year he prevailed in the second-most prestigious annual golf event in Connecticut. His victory completed a St. John\u2019s sweep after Bradley earlier in the summer had won the Travelers Championship, the annual PGA Tour signature event at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell.<\/p>\n

Bradley, who was three shots behind Tommy Fleetwood with four holes left, birdied the final hole to win his second Travelers. Five weeks later he watched his former college teammate triumph with a stellar par at the final hole of the Connecticut Open.<\/p>\n

Ballo and playing partner Jared Nelson were tied for the lead when both drove left near an out-of-bounds area on the 18th hole. Nelson could only chip out into the fairway, while Ballo adroitly hooked an iron around some trees to the right rough in front of the green.<\/p>\n

Nelson\u2019s third shot landed short of the green. He chipped up and finished with a bogey 5.<\/p>\n

Ballo faced a tight pin from a difficult lie in the rough. He hit \u201cthe shot of the tournament\u201d 6 feet left of the cup. He read the 5-inch, left-to-right break perfectly and rolled his putt in for par and the victory.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI was so proud how I stayed in the moment. But it was the heaviest round I ever played with the emotional weight of not winning and trying so hard to do it.\u201d \u2013 Mike Ballo Jr.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

After shaking hands with Nelson, Ballo dropped to the ground and cried with caddie Stuart Waack at his side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so proud how I stayed in the moment,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it was the heaviest round I ever played with the emotional weight of not winning and trying so hard to do it. To put another Ballo name on the trophy, well, I\u2019m so proud that legacy is there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Greensboro, Bradley beamed.<\/p>\n

How these two New Englanders (Bradley was born in Woodstock, Vermont, and Ballo in Stamford, Connecticut) became great friends was established at St. John\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a freshman and Keegan was a junior,\u201d said Ballo, 37. \u201cHe was the best player and captain. He was kind of like my big brother. I knew it was the right thing to watch, to talk to him and to try to copy him a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Mike Ballo Jr. joins his father (Mike Sr.) and brother (Peter) as Connecticut Open champs. Courtesy Connecticut State Golf Association<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bradley\u2019s career took off with his 2011 PGA Championship victory at Atlanta Athletic Club in his first career major championship start as a PGA Tour rookie. Since then, Bradley has played in two Ryder Cups and two Presidents Cups and won seven other PGA Tour events. Now 39, Bradley will lead the American team headed to Bethpage Black later this month. He could have justifiably been a playing captain as the No. 11 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, but selflessly chose six other captain\u2019s picks instead.<\/p>\n

Ballo also tried to make it to the PGA Tour. \u201cI played a year on the New England circuit in pro events,\u201d he said. \u201cThen a year on the Hooters Tour, Web.com in 2013-14, and next I played four years on PGA Tour Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he stopped his PGA Tour pursuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gave it a hard go, and I loved playing, but I just couldn\u2019t do it anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m fully aware how difficult it is. I was 28 and I didn\u2019t want to be in my mid-30s and then try to transition being a club pro that late in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ballo was an assistant pro at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, for three years, during which time he won the 2019 New York State Open at Bethpage Black \u2013 site of the annual intercollegiate tournament St. John\u2019s hosts, the Doc Gimmler, in addition to the upcoming Ryder Cup. He moved to Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York, where he was a senior assistant pro before being named head pro at Tamarack Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife Amanda and I are expecting our first child, a daughter, in December,\u201d Ballo said. \u201cI\u2019m a head pro at a great course and able to play in events [with the Metropolitan Golf Association and CSGA]. I have a beautiful life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradley agrees: \u201cTo watch how he has flourished over the last handful of years plus, and to see him you know, to get married, become a head golf pro and then continue to play great golf, so I\u2019m really proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The feeling is mutual.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously fans will be watching Scottie [Scheffler] and Rory [McIlroy] in the Ryder Cup, but the support for Keegan will be really strong at Bethpage,\u201d Ballo said. \u201cBethpage is one of the hardest tests of golf, tee to green. So challenging physically and mentally. It never lets up. Team Europe is coming into Keegan\u2019s backyard. The U.S. crowd knows Keegan is our guy, a St. John\u2019s blue-collar guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

And every day of the Ryder Cup, Ballo will be at Bethpage Black to support one of his best friends and his team with pride.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2025 Global Golf Post LLC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former St. John\u2019s teammates (from left) George Zolotas, Kevin Velardo, Casey Calmi, Keegan Bradley, Mike Ballo Jr. and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[138801,2826,83247,138802,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-402550","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-connecticut-state-golf-association","9":"tag-golf","10":"tag-keegan-bradley","11":"tag-mike-ballo-jr","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115157191336595764","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}