At 41, Aaron Baddeley Is Looking for a Second Act to His Career
HONOLULU — For 41-year-old Aaron Baddeley, the Sony Open has the potential to be a springboard for a career that Baddeley admits has been disappointing.
The Australian has just four career wins to his credit, the last coming in a playoff over Si Woo Kim at the 2016 Barbasol Championship, an opposite field event in Alabama.
Since that win in Alabama, Baddeley only had a smattering of top 10 finishes.
Then late last year at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, the father of six children recorded his first top 10 since a T7 at the 2019 Corales Puntacana Resort & Golf Championship, and Sunday he followed that up with another T7 at the Sony Open after back-to-back 65s.
“My goal this week was just to get a little bit better every day, and I did that,” Baddeley said. “Ballstriking was pretty spot on today. I can honestly say I think I hit one shot offline today. I haven't done that in forever.”
Playing off past champion status, one of the lower categories available, Baddeley didn’t even know he was in the field until Saturday.
With no schedule to count on and a game that Baddeley believes is finally ready for prime time, the Australian can’t wait to build on this week’s success at next week’s American Express, where he has earned a spot due to his top 10 at Sony.
“It was nice coming in because I didn't feel 100 percent comfortable starting the week, wasn't quite right,” Baddeley said. “It was a good little goal just to set, just to get a little bit better every day, and it was nice to do that and nice to make a few putts just to capitalize on some good shots.”
Baddeley can look to September 2021 as a potentially seminal moment on his comeback. That’s when he started working with Mike Adams.
Going to a much simpler swing, Adams has given Baddeley a motion he feels he can easily control without much outside assistance and can work through any issues on his own.
Baddeley also found his putting stroke in an old drill he used at least 15 years ago, which simply is a short backswing and an exaggerated follow through down the line.
Once he started, his cadence in his stroke came back as well as the preferred strike and roll of the ball.
“If I can just keep hitting it the way I'm hitting it and just swinging away and trusting it and making some putts, then the rest sort of takes care of itself,” Baddeley said. “The goal is always to win. Anytime I turn up at a tournament, I want to try and win. That's what we're here for. I'm not here to sort of make up the numbers. I want to get my wins. I want to get back in the top 50 in the world, and you've got to win to do that. It's nice to know that I feel like I have the game to do that now, which is great.”