Aaron John Baddeley (born 17 March 1981) is an Australian professional golfer.
Early life Baddeley was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire in the United States. However, his family moved to Australia when he was two years old. As a teen, Baddeley was perceived as one of the most promising golf talents in the world.
Amateur career Baddeley was the youngest player ever to represent Australia in the Eisenhower Trophy. He won the Holden Australian Open as an amateur in 1999.
Professional career In 2000, Baddeley turned pro. He successfully defended his Australian Open title in 2000. He was awarded the 2000 Australian Young Male Athlete of the Year. In 2001, he won the Greg Norman Holden International in Australia. He won the PGA Tour of Australasia's Order of Merit in 2000/01.
In 2002, Baddeley played on the second tier Nationwide Tour in the U.S. and placed tenth on the money list to earn a PGA Tour card for 2003. He had second-place finishes on the PGA Tour in 2003 at the Sony Open in Hawaii and 2004 at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson. However he struggled for consistency, and after a solid rookie season, when he finished 73rd on the money list, he only just retained his card in 2004, when he came 124th. In 2005 he moved back up the rankings to 78th and in 2006 he won his first PGA Tour title at the Verizon Heritage.
Baddeley won his second PGA Tour tournament in early 2007 and reached the top 50 of the world rankings. By September, he had entered the top 20. His career high ranking was 17th in 2008.
Baddeley was the leader after the third round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club on 16 June 2007 with a two over par score of 212 (72-70-70). He finished with an 80 and ended T-13.
After a lull in form over the following few seasons, where he was finishing only in the lower reaches of the top-125 on the money list, Baddeley returned to the winner's circle when he won the 2011 Northern Trust Open in California. He defended a one-shot third-round lead over Kevin Na and veteran Fred Couples, completing a steady closing round of 69 to beat another veteran, Vijay Singh, by two strokes.
In October 2011, Baddeley was selected by Greg Norman as one of his two wildcard picks for the 2011 Presidents Cup team. He was selected along with fellow Australian Robert Allenby to compete at Royal Melbourne in November.
Statistically speaking, Baddeley frequently ranks as one of the very best putters on the PGA Tour. As of 2010, he has qualified for the Tour's end-of-season statistical rankings 8 times; of those, he finished among the circuit's top 10 in putts per green in regulation five times, and among the top 15 seven times. The only qualified season in which Baddeley was not among the PGA Tour's top 15 putters by that metric came in 2004, when he finished 64th out of 196 players.
Baddeley started the 2015–16 season playing out of the Past Champions category after finishing 157th in the FedEx Cup and failing to regain a PGA Tour card through the Web.com Tour Finals. He earned his first win in five years at the 2016 Barbasol Championship, beating Kim Si-woo in a four-hole playoff.
Personal life Baddeley is a committed Christian and has confessed that it was his faith that prevented him from giving up professional golf on numerous occasions.
Baddeley's wife Richelle, whom he married on 15 April 2005, sums up Baddeley's faith in God, saying: "It never faltered. He never asked, 'What are you trying to teach me? I want you to be the man you want me to be. I will go through these [bad] times if that is Your will'."
Richelle has also been pivotal to Baddeley's resurgence. "I had to learn the balance of letting him be alone when he comes home sometimes upset. It's sheer frustration from him. He's played his best, and it just hasn't happened," she said.
Baddeley and his wife have six children: Jewell, Jolee, Jeremiah, Josiah, Jaddex and Jedidiah.
He has joint U.S. and Australian citizenship. He represents Australia in golf.
Amateur wins this list may be incomplete 1998 Victorian Amateur Championship, Victorian Junior Masters 1999 Riversdale Cup
Professional wins (8) PGA Tour wins (4) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up116 Apr 2006Verizon Heritage−15 (66-67-66-70=269)1 stroke Jim Furyk24 Feb 2007FBR Open−21 (65-70-64-64=263)1 stroke John Rollins320 Feb 2011Northern Trust Open−12 (67-69-67-69=272)2 strokes Vijay Singh417 Jul 2016Barbasol Championship−18 (70-66-64-66=266)Playoff Kim Si-woo
PGA Tour playoff record (1–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12003Sony Open in Hawaii Ernie ElsLost to birdie on second extra hole22016Barbasol Championship Kim Si-wooWon with birdie on fourth extra hole
European Tour wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up111 Feb 2001 Greg Norman Holden International1−21 (67-68-68-68=271)Playoff Sergio García225 Nov 2007(2008 season)MasterCard Masters1−13 (70-66-69-70=275)Playoff Daniel Chopra
1Co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia
European Tour playoff record (2–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12001Greg Norman Holden International Sergio GarcíaWon with birdie on first extra hole22007MasterCard Masters Daniel ChopraWon with par on fourth extra hole
PGA Tour of Australasia wins (4) Legend Flagship events (2) Other PGA Tour of Australasia (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up128 Nov 1999Holden Australian Open(as an amateur)−14 (67-68-70-69=274)2 strokes Greg Norman, Nick O'Hern226 Nov 2000 Holden Australian Open (2)−10 (69-69-68-72=278)2 strokes Robert Allenby311 Feb 2001 Greg Norman Holden International1−21 (67-68-68-68=271)Playoff Sergio García425 Nov 2007MasterCard Masters1−13 (70-66-69-70=275)Playoff Daniel Chopra 1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (2–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12001 Greg Norman Holden International Sergio GarcíaWon with birdie on first extra hole22007MasterCard Masters Daniel ChopraWon with par on fourth extra hole
Results in major championships Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009Masters TournamentCUTCUTT52CUTT17U.S. OpenCUTCUTT13T29The Open ChampionshipCUTCUTCUTCUTCUTPGA ChampionshipT57T55CUTT13CUT Tournament2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018Masters TournamentT47T40U.S. OpenCUTCUTCUTCUTT23T25The Open ChampionshipCUTT69T27PGA ChampionshipCUTT42T49 Tournament2019Masters TournamentPGA ChampionshipU.S. OpenCUTThe Open Championship
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied for place
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 4PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 5U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 3 11 4The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 2Totals 0 0 0 0 0 5 34 15 Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2014 U.S. Open – 2018 U.S. Open) Longest streak of top-10s – 0
Results in The Players Championship Tournament200420052006200720082009The Players ChampionshipCUT78CUTT37T32T9 Tournament2010201120122013201420152016201720182019The Players ChampionshipCUTT6CUTCUTCUTCUTCUTT41CUT Tournament20202021202220232024The Players ChampionshipC72CUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament2006200720082009201020112012Match PlayR16R16R64R64ChampionshipT6T15DQT2812InvitationalT54T20T43T11T8ChampionsT23
DQ = Disqualified QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = Tied Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
PGA Tour career summary Season Wins Earnings ($) Rank 2001 0 19,435 – 2002 0 16,380 – 2003 0 989,168 73 2004 0 632,876 123 2005 0 1,006,006 78 2006 1 1,516,513 55 2007 1 3,441,119 10 2008 0 1,665,587 49 2009 0 837,065 101 2010 0 879,317 110 2011 1 3,094,693 20 2012 0 1,215,753 76 2013 0 721,024 113 2014 0 942,559 102 2015 0 439,925 165 2016 1 1,644,915 61 2017 0 755,356 132 2018 0 725,928 134 2019 0 904,982 124 2020 0 286,504 166 2021 0 160,640 202 2022 0 199,830 196 2023 0 1,337,851 96 2024 0 471,410 154Career* 4 23,921,625 70 * Through the 2024 season. Note: Baddeley did not join the PGA Tour until 2003 so he was not ranked on the money list until then.
Team appearances Amateur Eisenhower Trophy (representing Australia): 1998, 2000 Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches (representing Victoria): 1998, 1999
Professional World Cup (representing Australia): 2001 Presidents Cup (International Team): 2011
See also 2002 Buy.com Tour graduates
References
External links
Aaron Baddeley player profile, Golf Australia