He follows only Francis Ouimet, who won the US Open in 1913, and Ben Curtis who won The Open in 2001, both in their rookie year.

But the mountain 25-year-old Bradley has just climbed could have been a much different one had he continued with his childhood sport and become a skier.

As an all-state skier in Vermont, he decided to pursue golf as a teenager until he came to a turning point.

“It was a slalom at Killington. I’ll never forget it. It was raining, cold, sleeting, and I’m at the top of this mountain going, ‘this is not as much fun as golf’.

"That was the moment that I realised that I wanted to play golf.

“Skiing was bigger growing up for me personally. But I was sitting on top of that hill freezing, having no fun, and I said, you know what, I want to be a golfer.” 

And so he did. There to nurture his golfing talent was his aunt, Pat Bradley, a six-time major winner on the LPGA Tour and his father, Mark, a teaching pro. 

But does America now have its own star in waiting in Bradley? He certainly performed well under pressure.

“As soon as I realised I was going into a play-off, I completely calmed down.

"I got to the tee on 16, it was the most calm I’ve been probably all week and I absolutely striped it down that hole, which was fun,” said the Vermont golfer who went on to shoot 3-3-4 over Jason Dufner’s 4-4-3.

“That hole, I’ll never forget it the rest of my life. It was so exciting.”