With win, Baddeley sets loftier goals  PGATOUR.com Contributor SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- With Sunday's victory at the FBR Open being his second career win on the PGA TOUR, Aaron Baddeley has set some lofty goals. "I want to be the best,'' said the 25-year-old Australian, who last year broke through at the Verizon Heritage to go with three international wins, including two Australian Opens.  Aaron Baddeley is the first player in his 20s to win on the PGA TOUR in 2007. (Marc Feldman/ WireImage)
"I mean, Tiger (Woods) is the best for sure right now, and I think if I can just keep working hard, keep plugging away... I'm definitely setting my sights on that.'' Baddeley certainly looked like a player obsessed with ruling the planet in Sunday's final round at the TPC Scottsdale, where he caught and passed rookie Jeff Quinney coming down the stretch by closing with birdies on three of the last four holes. It was a heart-breaking loss for Quinney, who gave up the lead in the final round of a PGA TOUR event for the third time in three weeks. Especially damaging for Quinney were a pair of bogeys on the final two holes that dropped him to third place, two shots behind Baddeley, and one behind runner-up John Rollins. But give Baddeley a lot of credit for the reversal of fortunes. He closed like the world's No. 1 player he wants to become with back-to-back, 7-under-par 64s for a winning total of 21-under-par 263. In fact, Baddeley's 14-under-par total on the weekend tied the tournament record for the lowest last 36 holes ever. That mark is shared by five players withVijay Singh being the last to do it when he won the FBR Open in 2003. Asked how his second win stacked up to the first, the young man known as "Badds'' flashed a big smile. "The first one felt more of a relief, where this one is sort of like, all right, now we're making headway to where I want to go,'' he related. "It is two totally different feelings, another steppingstone.'' Baddeley also had words of praise for Quinney, who had slept on the lead for two straight nights before relinquishing it on the 17th hole as he yanked his tee shot dead left into the water and missed a 4-foot putt to save par.. "Jeff played great today, and I was just trying to catch him,'' said Baddeley, who didn't win on TOUR until his fourth full season. "And I can relate to what it's like to finally win that first one. "I was definitely a lot calmer today than I was at Hilton Head coming down the stretch there. I had a lot more confidence today probably because I had been there, but also that I was more comfortable in my golf swing from all the hard work I've been putting in.'' Where Baddeley especially excelled was on the firm and fast greens of the TPC Scottsdale. For the week, he ranked No. 1 in putting with a total of 104 putts. Odd, since putting had been a problem earlier in the season, when he finished tied for 27th at the Mercedes Benz Championship and missed the cut at the Sony Hawaiian Open. "Yeah, I had been struggling with it. ... and last week I was best man at my best mate's wedding, and I took my putter with me and was putting in the hotel room because I wanted to work hard on it,'' he said, thinking back to the ceremony in Flat Rock, N.C., for his friend, Mark Walkenhorst. What was really impressive about Baddeley's flat stick was he needed only 20 putts in the first round, where he recorded nine straight one-putts on the back nine en route to an opening 65. By comparison, he needed 28 putts in Sunday's final round, of which 14 came on the back nine, where he rolled in birdies at the 10th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th holes. The last and most important birdie came from 10 feet and gave Baddeley a one-shot lead he never relinquished. The victory vaulted Baddeley all the way from 90th into fourth place in the 2007 FedExCup point standings, where he trails only John Rollins, Vijay Singh and Charles Howell III, respectively. And the size of the winner's check -- $1.08 million -- boosted him to $5,317,377 in career earnings, as well as into a state of disbelief. "I was blown away. Like, 'Whoa!' '' Baddeley said of his share of the $6-million purse. "We'll store that away, save it, invest it wisely.'' Chances are Baddeley's stock is on the rise, as are his adoring legions, which were all decked out in "Badds Brigade'' T-shirts on Sunday. Baddeley, who like Quinney lives at nearby Grayhawk Golf Club, said that despite his Australian roots, he felt right at home Sunday, having lived in Scottsdale now for the past seven years. As for which home he likes best -- Scottsdale or Melbourne? -- he gave a very diplomatic response. "I feel more like an Australian (than an American), but I feel like this is my adopted home,'' said Baddeley, who was born in New Hampshire but spent most of his life Down Under and has dual citizenship. "This is the easiest place to live here in the world, Scottsdale. And Melbourne was voted the most livable city in the world. So (I've) got it pretty good.'' |
PGATOUR.com is part of Turner - SI Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network 