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He has brownish-blond locks, a muscular surfer's build and a punk-rock name. He wears a black golf cap inscribed with the letters BADDS.COM -- his Web site -- and sports a belt-buckle fashioned from the head of an old 1-iron. Australian young gun
a sharpshooter at WaialaeBy Grady Timmons
Special to the Star-BulletinAaron Baddeley looks just like what he is -- a young gun on the PGA Tour. In yesterday's opening round of the Sony Open in Hawaii, the 21-year-old Australian came out smoking, firing a 4-under-par 66 that left him only two shots off the pace set by Retief Goosen and Kenny Perry.
En route to his 66, Baddeley hit 14 greens and offset a lone bogey with three birdies and an eagle, stuffing a 6-iron within a foot of the cup at the par-5 ninth. It was his first start as an official member of the PGA Tour, and he played as if he intends to keep the privilege.
"I felt really comfortable out there today. I was very patient," he said. "It's a different feeling being out here with a Tour card instead of a sponsor's exemption. I feel like I've earned my place. I've paid my dues, and now I'm ready to go."
Just four years ago, Baddeley was being hailed as the second coming of Greg Norman. In 1999, as a 17-year-old amateur, he became the youngest golfer to win the Australian Open, then won the tournament again the following year at age 18.
In a country that has produced champions like Norman, Steve Elkington, David Graham and Bruce Crampton, Baddeley was big news. He received a special invitation to play in the Masters, and along with Sergio Garcia, Charles Howell III and Adam Scott was touted as an answer to Tiger Woods.
But the hype got ahead of Baddeley's development. He soon learned that getting onto the PGA Tour was not so easy. In nine tour starts in 2001, the Australian won only $19,435. He spent most of last year on the Nationwide Tour, where he earned his PGA card by finishing 10th on the money list.
Among the things Baddeley had to adjust to was life as a professional golfer. "You have to work hard," he said. "You have to learn to work out, and how much to work out. You have to know what to eat and what not to eat. You have to learn to play different courses and how to handle longer rough and the grain in Bermuda greens. It's just a process you have to go through."
To help build a more reliable swing, he went to golf guru David Leadbetter. "He worked with me on my setup and my grip -- getting it more in the fingers," Baddeley said. "We worked on the takeaway. The big thing was getting the club square at the top and throughout the swing, so that I could release the club properly and get my weight more on my left side at impact."
Baddeley said he first knew he wanted to play on the PGA Tour when he was 13. "I've always been one to set my goals high," he said. "My parents actually stopped me from playing golf on Mondays when I was growing up, because I was playing too much. I was very determined to get where I wanted to. ... My goal was to be on the tour when I was 21. I'm now 21 and I'm on the tour, so I achieved my goal."
Baddeley's goal this week is to put three more good rounds together. By year's end, he said he would like to win a tournament, be named Rookie of the Year and qualify for the Tour Championship. He feels the changes he made with Leadbetter will help get there.
"I feel that my swing is there now and it's not going to get too far off track," he said. "When my game's not quite on, I feel I can still compete. Last year, in my last eight starts, I was in contention every time, which I hadn't done before."
Looking back, Baddeley admits that after winning the Australian Open, it took him a little longer to get on the PGA Tour than he thought. "But what I've been through and learned during that period is going to hold me in good stead the rest of my life," he said. "It's made me a better player than I would have been had I come out here and been successful straight away."
Sony Open