Aaron Baddeley outlasted Daniel Chopra during four sudden death playoff holes to win his first Australian Masters title and gold jacket. Both Baddeley and Chopra completed regulation play tied with a 13 under 275 score.
Baddeley triumphed over a mostly unheralded Australian field that included fellow Aussie stalwarts Stuart Appleby, Rod Pampling, Peter Lonard, Robert Allenby and new touring pro Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland. McIlroy finished up at 7 under par, a solid showing for the young lad. He should receive his fair share of sponsor’s exemptions for the upcoming season, both in Europe and in the USA. However, Baddeley should be the focus here, especially by winning in stunning playoff fashion,
The winner of the Australian Masters receives the coveted “gold jacket”. This is Aaron’s first time trying on the gold jacket and it looks to be a great fit. According to The Australasian PGA Tour, “the Mastercard Masters is one of Australia’s prestigious golfing events on the PGA Tour summer schedule. Beginning in 1979 the MasterCard Masters has been played at Huntingdale Golf Course, “The home of the Australian Masters” in Melbourne, Victoria.” It seems that Aaron found some inspiration in former winner (6 times a winner of this tourney actually) Greg Norman, aka The Shark. Aaron said, “"Greg won six of the first 12 on the Masters... it would be great to have a win, because I haven't won here before," he said. Being a member here, having played pennant for Huntingdale, it would be pretty special to win the gold jacket on Sunday." Winning a major championship in a playoff at your home course equals excitement and must feel pretty special, huh Aaron?
Aaron Baddeley has had a pretty solid 2007 golf season. He won the FBR Open early in the US PGA Tour season and was a serious contender to capture the 2007 US Open before succumbing to an unforgiving Oakmont venue on the last day of regulation play. I know that I was really pulling for him at the US Open, but a win was just not meant to be for Aaron. We can all associate with Badds, he seems to fight a wayward drive quite a bit of the time, just like many of us do. He reminds me of a younger, yet much more improved version of Jose Maria Olazabal from Spain. Aaron has the short game, he only needs to find more consistency off the tee (146th - 60% on 2007 PGA Tour for Driving Accuracy stats). He has youth on his side, so he can only get better. When Badds (ranked 18th in the world rankings) is “completely on his game”, he is a real threat to win, even when a Tiger is in the field. Aaron’s wife Shelly summed up his win on his website perfectly, Aaron found the perfect way to top off his best year ever in golf. A victory in his hometown with his family and friends by his side couldn’t be sweeter. Keep eating your Vegemite Aaron, and the wins will keep stacking up!
View the full article
