Baddeley wins Northern Trust Open
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2011 Northern Trust Open | Final Round | 21 Feb 2011
Australia’s Aaron Baddeley today won his first event in more than four years when he completed a three shot victory at the Northern Trust Open at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.
Baddeley finished two shots ahead of Vijay Singh and three ahead of Kevin Na having started the final round one ahead of Na and Fred Couples.
Early in the round it appeared as if the people’s choice for victory, Couples, might do just that when he birdied his opening three holes to move one ahead of Baddeley but Couples struck disaster at the 6th and 7th holes, dropping three shots.
Baddeley then consolidated his position at the top of the leader-board and when he got up and down from the edge of the green at the reachable par four 10th, he had moved to 13 under and at that point had a three shot break on Singh.
Baddeley appeared to be cruising but he too found trouble at the 12th after finding the trees with his tee shot and then came up well short of the green with his approach. He pitched a little long and took three more to get down and the margin was just two over Singh with another two shots back to Allenby and Couples.
That would be the last chance he would offer his chasers however. A beautiful curling left to right putt from 25 feet for birdie at the very next hole restored the three shot margin and although Singh reduced it again to two with a ten foot birdie putt at the 16th, it was a case of too little too late.
Baddeley stood on the final tee with a two shot lead and when he had hit his drive in the middle of the fairway only then could he contemplate the prospect of victory. His approach missed the green but he was able to get up and down for par and the two shot victory.
This is the fourth victory by Australians at Riviera in the last 16 years. In 1995 Steve Elkington won the USPGA Championship, in 2001 Robert Allenby won this event in a six way playoff and in 2005 Adam Scott won a weather reduced version of the same event.
“Winning here is so special,” said Baddeley soon after his win. “I have been coming here since 2003 and have not missed a year and don’t plan to. Some of my first memories of Riviera were of Steve Elkington’s win.”
Baddeley’s last victory came in 2007 at the FBR Open in his adopted hometown of Scottsdale. He continued to play well that season and actually led into the final round of the US Open that year before a final round of 80 threatened to ruin his year. He finished it off however with a couple of good finishes late in the year but with one or two exceptions he has been ordinary by his standards over the past couple of years.
Baddeley had slipped to 224th in the world leading into this week’s event and even the victory will not earn him a start in this coming week’s Accenture match play Championship. What is does offer Baddeley however in addition to the US$1,170,000 winner’s cheque is a start at Augusta National in six weeks time.
For Singh also it is a continuation of the improvement he has shown of late and while he too will not start next week in Arizona the progress in his game of late is encouraging. “It’s feeling pretty good,” said Singh referring to the progress in his game. “I was into it. The game is starting to come around, although I wasn’t hitting the ball as solid as I wanted to. I was driving the ball good, which was good, putting myself in good position, but my iron play was not very good. But I’m putting well and I’m scoring well. I’m putting well. That’s a great, great thing to have when you’re putting well. I haven’t done that for a long, long time. This is going to get me some places.”
Na holed a ten foot par saving putt at the last to dodge a four way tied for third and finished alone in that position.
Robert Allenby, Fred Couples and Ryan Moore tied for 4th, Allenby creating a chance to win when he moved to 9 under for the tournament through eight holes. He could not go on with it but it was a good week for the former winner.
Stuart Appleby 12th and John Senden and Geoff Ogilvy 21st were the next best of the Australians.
The PGA Tour now moves to Arizona for the Accenture Match Play Championship or, for those not eligible, to the Mayakoba Classic in River Maya in Mexico.
Courtesy of Bruce Young and iSeekgolf