Color Him Badds

On a week where Tour favorite and newly crowned Champions Tour dominator Fred Couples tried his best to steal the show, it ended up being all about the reemergence of an Aussie who was crowned on potential nearly a decade ago. In the early 2000’s Aaron Baddeley was at the forefront of the international golf world. As an amateur he took Australia by storm and racked up several victories. He hit the big boy tour by 2003 and had little to no success. After a few close breaks here and there, it wasn’t until Hilton Head 2006 did he realize his dream. On Easter Sunday (his anniversary with his wife Richelle) he was able to cash in his first career victory at the narrowed fairway and small greened Harbour Town.

After capturing the famed Tartan Jacket for the Harbour Town Champion, “Badds” as he is known in the Tour-circle, continued mediocre consistency. But less then a year after his first title he did it again in front of a raucous crowd at the FBR Open in his now hometown Scottsdale, AZ. This victory supplanted Baddeley as an established threat on the PGA Tour for some time to come. Flash to four months later in Oakmont, PA at the US Open, where Badds was the 54-hole leader at +2 heading into Sunday. Being in contention got to the youngster and he quickly faded away on the opening nine and ended up firing a 10-over par 80, giving him a T13 finish, his best major finish to date.

This struggle, all the while trying to start and cultivate his family, basically set his game into a tailspin. Although two wins had established him as a full PGA Tour card carrier, 2008 – 2010 he was only just a small blip on the competition’s radar. With only seven major championship appearances and only three cuts made in that three-year period, Baddeley looked to be losing his place on Tour quickly. But he never lost the faith.

Always being a man of strong conviction and spirituality, Badds pressed on knowing that good things will come to those who had faith. He had been working hard on his game over the passed year and commented this week to CBS’s Peter Kostis that he had not felt this good about his game in a long time. Well he proved that this week! The diminutive Badds surprised the field this week with is added length off the tee and his scrambling out of trouble in the tricky kikuya grass of Riviera. But what did not surprise anyone was the supreme putting prowess of the 29 year-old Aussie.

The roars at Riviera on Sunday were only often early. Like unforeseen lightning strikes the 51-year-old Freddie Couples posted three straight birdies to grab the lead away from Badds. But unpannicked the youngster took on mini-charges from resident old guys Couples and Vijay Singh, only to aggressively roll in a birdie or par putt to keep chugging ahead. Before you know it, Couples and Singh both threw a couple shots back to Badds, and he just kept moving forward. Although a double-bogey midway through the back nine looked like it would derail him, Baddeley was able to get to the 18th with a two shot lead and an easy walk up the famed 18th at Riviera Country Club.

This win was the third career victory for the Aussie and may serve as resurgence for the once potentially great player. He will make his sixth appearance at Augusta National in April, where he has never finished better than T17 (only has made 2 cuts). But this win should propel him forward and get him the confidence to compete at the highest level. And with the way he putts, Badds is a threat at any course he tees it up at on any week. Although he will sit out the Accenture Match Play this week, as he is not currently within the World’s Top 64, it will give this family man time to spend with his wife and two daughters before the start of the grueling Florida Swing.