Aaron John Baddeley (born 17 March 1981) is an Australian professional golfer. He was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire, U.S. and now plays on the U.S.-based PGA Tour. He has joint U.S. and Australian citizenship and was raised in Australia from the age of two. He represents Australia in golf.

Aaron Baddeley
Baddeley in April 2007
Personal information
Full nameAaron John Baddeley
NicknameBadds
Born (1981-03-17) 17 March 1981 (age 43)
Lebanon, New Hampshire, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Sporting nationality Australia
ResidenceMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S
Spouse
Richelle
(m. 2005)
Children6
Career
Turned professional2000
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
(past champion status)
PGA Tour of Australasia
Professional wins8
Highest ranking16 (20 April 2008)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour4
European Tour2
PGA Tour of Australasia4
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT17: 2009
PGA ChampionshipT13: 2008
U.S. OpenT13: 2007
The Open ChampionshipT27: 2017
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour of Australasia
Order of Merit winner
2000–01
PGA Tour of Australasia
Player of the Year
2000–01
PGA Tour of Australasia
Rookie of the Year
2000–01

Professional career

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When he was in his late teens, Baddeley was seen as one of the most promising talents in the world of golf. He was the youngest player ever to represent Australia in the Eisenhower Trophy and he won the Holden Australian Open as an amateur in 1999 and retained his title in 2000, by which time he had turned professional. 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. However, in the following few years he came to be overshadowed by his Australian contemporary Adam Scott, who is less than a year older than Baddeley but reached the world top 10 in 2005.

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.[2] 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

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Baddeley is a committed Christian and has confessed that it was his faith that prevented him giving up professional golf on numerous occasions.[3]

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'."[citation needed]

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.[4]

Baddeley and his wife have six children: Jewell, Jolee, Jeremiah, Josiah, Jaddex and Jedidiah.

Amateur wins

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this list may be incomplete

Professional wins (8)

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PGA Tour wins (4)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 16 Apr 2006 Verizon Heritage −15 (66-67-66-70=269) 1 stroke   Jim Furyk
2 4 Feb 2007 FBR Open −21 (65-70-64-64=263) 1 stroke   John Rollins
3 20 Feb 2011 Northern Trust Open −12 (67-69-67-69=272) 2 strokes   Vijay Singh
4 17 Jul 2016 Barbasol Championship −18 (70-66-64-66=266) Playoff   Kim Si-woo

PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2003 Sony Open in Hawaii   Ernie Els Lost to birdie on second extra hole
2 2016 Barbasol Championship   Kim Si-woo Won with birdie on fourth extra hole

European Tour wins (2)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 11 Feb 2001 Greg Norman Holden International1 −21 (67-68-68-68=271) Playoff   Sergio García
2 25 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. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2001 Greg Norman Holden International   Sergio García Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2007 MasterCard Masters   Daniel Chopra Won with par on fourth extra hole

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (4)

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Legend
Flagship events (2)
Other PGA Tour of Australasia (2)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 28 Nov 1999 Holden Australian Open
(as an amateur)
−14 (67-68-70-69=274) 2 strokes   Greg Norman,   Nick O'Hern
2 26 Nov 2000 Holden Australian Open (2) −10 (69-69-68-72=278) 2 strokes   Robert Allenby
3 11 Feb 2001 Greg Norman Holden International1 −21 (67-68-68-68=271) Playoff   Sergio García
4 25 Nov 2007 MasterCard 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. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2001 Greg Norman Holden International   Sergio García Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2007 MasterCard Masters   Daniel Chopra Won with par on fourth extra hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament CUT CUT T52 CUT T17
U.S. Open CUT CUT T13 T29
The Open Championship CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT
PGA Championship T57 T55 CUT T13 CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament T47 T40
U.S. Open CUT CUT CUT CUT T23 T25
The Open Championship CUT T69 T27
PGA Championship CUT T42 T49
Tournament 2019
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied for place

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 4
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 5
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 3 11 4
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 2
Totals 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

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Tournament 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Players Championship CUT 78 CUT T37 T32 T9
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
The Players Championship CUT T6 CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT T41 CUT
Tournament 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
The Players Championship C 72 CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

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Tournament 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Match Play R16 R16 R64 R64
Championship T6 T15 DQ T28 12
Invitational T54 T20 T43 T11 T8
Champions T23
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

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Season Wins Earnings ($) Rank[5]
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
Career* 4 21,735,103 70[6]

* Through the 2020 season.
Note: Baddeley did not join the PGA Tour until 2003 so he was not ranked on the money list until then.

Team appearances

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Amateur

Professional

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 16 2008 Ending 20 Apr 2008" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Official World Golf Ranking site, Week 5 2007 news release". Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2007.
  3. ^ Lim, Anne (27 December 2017). "How God's word keeps golfer Aaron Baddeley on course". Eternity. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Thank God for that, says Aaron". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 April 2006. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Official Money". PGA Tour. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Career Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
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