Aaron Baddeley has punched his ticket back into the PGA Tour, courtesy of a hard-fought win at the Barbasol Championship, his first PGA TOUR victory since 2011.
While the world’s eyes were on The Open at Royal Troon, Baddeley was teeing it up at the RTJ Golf Trail – Grand National Lake, Alabama, in his quest to secure his playing future on the PGA TOUR.
Playing on a past champion category with limited status, Baddeley opened with rounds of 70 and 76 to be 11 shots off the lead heading into the weekend.
The 35-year-old fired the best round of the day on Saturday, his 7-under 64 moving him up the leaderboard.
Starting the final round three shots off the lead, Baddeley fired a 5-under 66 to finish regulation play tied for the lead with Korean Si Woo Kim.
It took four playoff holes for Baddeley to secure the victory with an incredible 28 foot birdie putt.
Leaping in the air, Baddeley was clearly elated to have won the tournament which will secure his future on the PGA TOUR and earned him a start in the PGA Championship..
The Barbasol Championship becomes Baddeley’s fourth PGA Tour victory since he turned Professional in 2000.
Baddeley becomes the fourth Australian to win on the PGA TOUR this season after Adam Scott won The Honda Classic and WGC – Cadillac Championship, Jason Day won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and WGC – Dell Match Play and Greg Chalmers won the Barracuda Championship.
Of the other Australians to make the cut, Stuart Appleby finished a solid T11, five shots back on -13, while Jarrod Lyle, who is battling to regain his tour card before his medical exemption expires finished T62 on -5.
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