Twenty five year old American rookie Keegan Bradley, making his US PGA Championship debut, has rewritten the record books by winning his first Major title beating Jason Dufner in a three hole playoff at the Atlanta Athletic Club after both men ended tied at 8-under after 72 holes.

Keegan, whose aunt Pat Bradley won 6 Major titles on the LPGA Tour including 3 in 1986, became only the third golfer in the history of the sport to a win a Major on debut, following in the footsteps of the legendary Francis Ouimet (remember the movie·The Greatest Game Ever Played) and another American Ben Curtis.

Bradley though was virtually out of the reckoning when he slipped to 5-shots off the lead after a horrible triple bogey on the 15th. However, birdies on the 16th and 17th coupled with three consecutive bogeys from Dufner from 15th to 17th brought both men back to 8-under. Dufner's cold putter through those three holes and Bradley's surprising turn around in fortunes meant that the momentum was firmly with the rookie heading into the three-hole play-off.

The play-off was played on the last three holes, and Bradley, who had just birdied the 16th repeated the effort. Dufner narrowly missed out on an eagle with his second shot whistling past the hole, but he failed to make his short putt for birdie, falling a stroke behind. Bradley made par on the 17th, while Dufner hit his birdie shot too hard. He just missed the hole, but the ball raced past leaving him too much to do to hold par. With a two stroke lead heading to the 18th, all Keegan needed to do was to avoid the water hazard. Both men did so (just about) and Dufner then nailed his birdie putt to finish on a high, putting the pressure back on the youngster. Bradley though held his nerve to two-putt to hold his par and win the play-off by a stroke.

Denmark's Anders Hansen finished a stroke behind the lead duo all on his lonesome at 7-under thanks to a final round 66. He looked on course to challenge for the title after he reached 7-under by the 12th hole, but found birdies hard to come by till he reached the 17th. A bogey the hole before put paid to his aspirations.

Sweden's Robert Karlsson was also very much in contention after an eagle on 12th took him to 8-under. He stayed that way till the 16th when consecutive bogeys on the last three holes saw him slip to 5-under. He was joined there by 2001 PGA Champion David Toms and 47-year old Scott Verplank who had a very consistent week to keep himself on the leaderboard right through.

The top two golfers in the world, Englishmen Luke Donald and Lee Westwood finished in a tie for 8th place at 3-under for the championship. Both men produced solid rounds, carding 68s though both ended up bogeying the final hole. Australian Adam Scott, with arguably the world's most famous caddie by his side, did marginally better, ending at 4-under, on his own in 7th place.

The celebrities in the middle of the pack included two South Africans - Trevor Immelman and Charl Schwartzel - who joined Spaniard Sergio Garcia at 1-under in a 7-way tie for 12th. Phil Mickelson was a stroke further back to end the championship how he started, on even par. Veteran KJ Choi was the first of the Asian players at 4-over, while teenage compatriot Seung-yul Noh and Japan's Yuta Ikeda were a stroke back. US Open champion Rory McIlroy ended the championship at 11-over par after another disappointing round of 74.

Final leaderboard (par 70)
-8: J Dufner (US), *K Bradley (US) *wins in a play-off
-7: A Hansen (Den)
-5: R Karlsson (Swe), D Toms (US), S Verplank (US)
-4: A Scott (Aus)
-3: L Westwood (Eng), L Donald (Eng)
-2: K Na (US), DA Points (US)

Select others
-1: S Garcia (Spa), T Immelman (SA), C Schwartzel (SA), N Watney (US)
Level: P Mickelson (US), B Davis (Eng), H Mahan (US), J Senden (Aus)
+1: B Watson (US), R Allenby (Aus)
+4: I Poulter (Eng), J Edfors (Swe), KJ Choi (Kor)
+5: R Fisher (Eng), N Seung-yul (Kor), Y Ikeda (Jap)
+6: S Dyson (Eng), R Fowler (US)
+11: R McIlroy (NI), P Harrington (Ire), MA Jiminez (Spa)
+12: YE Yang (Kor), E Molinari (Ita)
+14: P Casey (Eng), D Love III (US)