Franklin Templeton Shootout 2011: Keegan Bradley, Brendan Steele Win

Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele won the Franklin Templeton Shootout on Sunday with a 13-under final round. They finished 32-under for the scramble tournament, three strokes ahead of two teams: Rory Sabbatini and Jhonattan Vegas, and Mark Calcavecchia and Nick Price.

Bradley and Steele took the lead for good with an eagle on No. 14 followed by a birdie on No. 15. From the AP:

“We played well,” Bradley said. “We got off to a slow start, kind of like we did all three days, but we played this last stretch of holes really well.”

Steele added: “We had so much fun that it made it a lot easier for us.

Bradley and Steele had been talking about playing in Greg Norman’s event since the spring, and said they weren’t at the three-format event to “goof off.”

Bradley and Steele are the first PGA Tour rookies to win the event. The total purse was $3 million, with the winners each walking away with $375,000. The four second-place golfers earned $187,000. The rookies had control of the Shootout from the start, tying for the lead on Day 1, taking a one-stroke lead after Day 2 and distancing themselves in the final round.

The tournament used different scramble rules on each day, starting with a modified alternate shot the first day (each golfer hits a drive, one drive is selected and the players alternate shots the rest of the hole) and “better ball” rules on the second day (each golfer uses his ball the entire hole, but only the lowest score counts). Sunday’s rules were a straight-up scramble, with each golfer playing the ball every time, with the best shot being selected.