Aaron Baddeley’s emergence couldn’t come at a better time for the PGA Tour.
The tour is cracking down on slow play this year. The numbing pace on the fairways and greens can make a 3-hour-49-minute baseball game seem like a sprint.
Now comes Baddeley to show that players don’t need to pull out a gyroscope to measure the break in a putt. He quickly eyes it, and then, to paraphrase John Madden, boom, he hits the ball. Baddeley moves so uncharacteristically fast for a golfer that ESPN almost missed a crucial putt during the first hole of his playoff Sunday with Ernie Els at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Baddeley has a wonderfully simple concept that golfers everywhere should copy: “Take one look and hit it.”
“I always associate it with throwing a ball,” Baddeley said. “When a shortstop picks up a ball, he’s not thinking of how hard to throw it to first. He’s not thinking when to let it go, what position his elbow is in or anything. He’s picking it up, one look at it and it’s a go.”
Baddeley could make speed golf popular this year. While he eventually lost to Els in Hawaii, the 21-year-old definitely signaled he is ready to start living up to the high expectations laid on him a few years back.
After winning the 1999 Australian Open as an amateur and then defending his title in 2000 as a pro, Baddeley became golf’s flavor of the month. But the anticipated explosion onto the worldwide scene never happened.
Baddeley struggled, eventually falling off the A-list of rising stars. To his credit, he didn’t give up.
Instead, Baddeley revamped his swing with David Leadbetter and spent last year working out the kinks on what is now the Nationwide Tour.
He closed strong, with four straight top-15 finishes to place 10th on the money list, good enough to earn a PGA Tour card for 2003.
“It was a frustrating and difficult time, don’t get me wrong,” said Baddeley, who was born in New Hampshire but moved to Australia when he was 2. “But I will hold it in such good stead for the rest of my life.
“I know now that I am a better player than I was two years ago because of what I went through. Even though that time was tough, I wouldn’t change that because of what I learned.”
Baddeley never lost his confidence. His wardrobe says it all. It takes some audacity to play the biggest round of your life wearing purple plaid pants and a white belt that looked to have been stolen from Jack Nicklaus’ 1970s vault.
He also has taken some heat for using his cap to advertise his Web site. A trip to Badds.com offers the opportunity for his fans to join Club Badds, where “you’ll get the latest news about Badds through periodic e-mail bulletins.”
The club probably didn’t have many members before last week. Els might be looking to join after being taken to the wire by Baddeley.
“He’s going to win a lot of titles,” Els said.
If Baddeley does, given this country’s propensity to copy a winner, the retro look and fast play will be in style on the nation’s golf courses. That would be a good thing. There’s nothing wrong with wearing purple plaid pants as long as you keep moving.
Starting over: At last year’s Phoenix Open, Ty Tryon was the flavor of the month. A media horde was on hand to watch the 17-year-old play his first tournament since becoming the youngest player ever to win a PGA Tour card.
The season hardly went as planned. He played poorly early, and then a bout with mononucleosis kept him out of action for five months. He earned only $8,620.
Tryon, though, will get another chance at Phoenix this week. He received a major medical exemption, allowing him to play on the tour in 2003. Still a senior in high school, it is too early to expect much from Tryon.
But like Baddeley, he has the confidence and the swing. He should make an impact–perhaps even before he hits the ripe old age of 21.
Tap-ins: Phil Mickelson also is making his 2003 debut in Phoenix. Last year he got out of the gate quickly, winning the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. . . . Mark McCormack, founder of International Management Group, remains in critical condition after his a heart attack Jan. 16. . . . Longtime Chicago-based golf writer Brian Hewitt has left Golfweek to join the Golf Channel. Hewitt will serve as a reporter, contributing to the network’s new pre- and post-tournament shows.
