Back in February, Jacob Bridgeman arrived at the 18th hole at Riviera Country Club on Sunday with his dreams in his grasp. He was leading the Genesis Invitational, Tiger Woods’ tournament, with one hole to play. His first PGA Tour win was within reach; he just needed to par the final hole to hold off a hard-charging Rory McIlroy.
In the end, Bridgeman, despite being unable to feel his hands, made a four-foot par putt to beat McIlroy by one and win his idol’s tournament. That win sparked a season for Bridgeman that saw him make 22 of 23 cuts, post 11 top-10s and finish fourth at the Tour Championship. All that led to Bridgeman being picked by captain Brandt Snedeker to represent Team USA at next week’s Presidents Cup.
It was a season that saw Bridgeman “hit all” of his goals.
But on Sunday at the Biltmore Championship Asheville, Bridgeman checked off another one. One that looked completely different than the one he checked off in Los Angeles in February.
Bridgeman arrived at the Biltmore, the first FedEx Cup Fall event, looking to stay sharp for the Presidents Cup and put on a good performance, with many of his family members in attendance. Bridgeman, a South Carolina native and resident, had around 20 family and friends following him this week in Asheville. After Saturday’s third round at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, it looked like they wouldn’t be spending their Sunday night toasting Bridgeman in Asheville. Bridgeman was eight shots back of 54-hole leader Neal Shipley and would need something special to have a chance to hoist the trophy. But on a soft, gettable setup, the No. 1 putter on the PGA Tour had a chance if he could get hot.
He did that and more on Sunday.
Bridgeman birdied three of his first four holes and then eagled the eighth to turn in 5-under 30. With his irons and flatstick hot, birdies at 10, 13, 14 and 15 followed to put him on top of a jammed top of the leaderboard that included Shipley, Ricky Castillo and Ben James. A tap-in birdie at 17 put Bridgeman two clear of the pack, and he closed out a title-winning, 10-under 61 with a par on 18 to grab a trophy with a cohort of friends and family in attendance.
“I feel like I had a crowd the whole day,” Bridgeman said on Sunday after picking up over three shots on approach and making 90 feet of putts in the comeback win. “They were just kind of rooting me on. Kept the momentum going.”
Seven months ago, Bridgeman faced a terrifying scenario to get his first win. With thousands of fans looking on, including Woods, and McIlroy breathing down his neck, Bridgeman dug deep and pulled off an improbable win. Sunday’s victory looks almost nothing like that triumph in Pacific Palisades.
For the most part.
“Same [poa] greens,” Bridgeman said on Sunday when asked to compare his two wins. “LA was such a high-profile event. Felt like everything was against me that last day and I pulled through and was able to take it down. To win Tiger’s event is a dream come true, and then to do it here in front of a home crowd is definitely a different feel but just as special.”
After a sizzling Sunday 61 to grab a second win in 2026, Bridgeman now turns his attention to the Presidents Cup, where he and the heavily-favored Americans will look to continue their dominance in the biennial event. They’ll arrive in Chicago with perhaps an underrated match-play weapon: Bridgeman’s putter, which has been hot all season and reached a different level in Asheville.
“Super excited about Presidents Cup next week,” Bridgeman said. “I’m very pleased with how I’m playing rolling into it, and I think everyone else is just as pumped as I am.
“Playing as a team but also playing for our country. It just means a whole lot more. I think you’ll see some emotion come out, some guys elevate their game just because of how focused we are and how much we want to win.”
In a dream season, that’s the final thing for now two-time PGA Tour winner Jacob Bridgeman to check off his “goals” list.
