Keegan Bradley is playing his first #AusOpenGolf, and he’s excited at the thought of joining the legendary names on the Stonehaven Cup.

Bradley, the 32-year-old from Florida who won the 2011 PGA Championship, said he had grown up watching Australian golf on television.

His only previous trip Down Under was to play a web.com Tour event at Moonah Links on the Mornington Peninsula in 2010.

“I’ve always wanted to come down and play some of these tournaments,” Bradley said today.

“I’ve grown up watching them at home and it’s always big for an American player, I feel like, to play a little bit more globally.

"It’s easy for us to just stick to the PGA Tour, and I’ve always wanted to come back down here and sometimes the schedule doesn’t permit that, but this year I had a little opening at the end of the year and I really wanted to make it happen.’’

Bradley is currently ranked 30th in the world, having won the BMW Championship on the PGA Tour in recent months, and finished eighth on the season-long points standings, making him a favourite for this week’s Open at The Lakes.

He has had a resurgence after the anchoring ban introduced in 2016 impacted upon his game as he transitioned to a shorter putter with an “arm lock’’ grip.

“I think right now it’s the best I’ve ever been. I think I’m a much more well-rounded player.

"I had to tackle the putting issue, which was a lot harder than I expected, and if I keep improving with the way I’m putting and my technique there, as a whole I think my game is a lot better, it’s a lot sharper.

"But it’s taken a lot of work with the putter and I’ve got to keep going on that.”