A ‘cocky’ Keegan Bradley produced his lowest-ever Arnold Palmer Invitational of a six under par 66 all thanks to legendary NBL star, Michael Jordan.

Keegan had eight birdies, including five from the 4th to the 12th hole, and muscle his way into tied for eighth in the $6.2m event.

It is the 2011 PGA Champion’s lowest score in five rounds of the tournament since making his debut a year ago but missing the cut with rounds of 78 and 77.

Bradley again struggled with a 74 on Thursday but some timely advice from Jordan helped him post a 69 on Friday and then leading to one of the lowest scores on day three with an effort that included 14 of 14 fairways.

NBL legend Michael Jordan at last year’s Ryder Cup. (Photo – Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)

“I was talking to M.J. a bunch this off‑season, and he was telling me to play much more cocky,” said Bradley.

“He wants me to play with a lot more aggression and be cocky and just pretend like I’m playing him, which is normally a pretty good beating.

“And I texted him last night and told him I did what he was saying for the entire round today.  I just was going out there and pretending I was him.

“So, I’m proud of the way I played, a very solid round.

“Yesterday was first time I’ve ever broken par here. So today was a really good round.  You’ve got to stay really patient on this course, because it can beat you up a little bit.  But you have to hit the ball on the fairway, and I did that today.”

Bradley and Jordan have become friends as they’re both members at the exclusive Jupiter Club while Jordan was present at last year’s Ryder Cup helping inspire Davis Love 111’s USA team that included Bradley.

And Bradley’s become such a good friend of the NBL Hall of Famer he sent a text message to him last night after finally breaking par at Bay Hill.

“We play a bunch of golf together at Jupiter and I texted him last night about my game,” said Bradley.

“He’s another one of these guys that’s such a good guy.  He’s so good to me.  It’s a really good thing to have somebody like that to just be able to text and reach out to.

“I love playing golf with him, because you know you’re going to be out there and there’s going to be a lot of trash talk and he’s going to want to beat you.  He’s a good guy, and he’s helping me out.”