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Baddeley will turn 40 this season. Last season was the first in almost two decades he didn't have a top-10 and he missed more cuts than he made. It's hard to imagine his game getting any better a this point, but he should fare slightly better than he did this past season, if for no other reason than he'll have more starts.
It seems like just yesterday "Badds" was on the verge of taking over the PGA Tour and while that never happened, he has managed to bank over $20 million in earnings over the past 20 years. Baddeley has largely struggled over the past seven years, posting just one win during that span and eclipsing the $1 million mark just once as well. His better days are obviously behind him and there's no reason to consider him in salary cap formats.
Long considered a budding star and one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, Baddeley has regressed the last two years, notching just one top-10 in the 2017-18 season with just 15-of-27 made cuts and an uncharacteristic negative strokes gained: putting. The Aussie finished 132 in FedExCup points in 2017-18, just outside the top 125, but his future doesn't look to be on the upswing heading forward. He's undraftable in salary cap leagues and draft leagues.
Long believed to be a budding star, Baddeley never really bloomed and has mostly underwhelmed after showing early signs of talent. Last season Baddeley, now 36, upped his cut percentage from 39 percent to 55 percent, but it was still below the PGA Tour average and he notched just $755,356 in earnings. The Aussie gets another shot to breach $1 million for the eighth time in his career thanks to his 2016 Barbasol Championship victory that secured his PGA Tour card for this year. Though Baddeley is a bit of a roller coaster, expect a slight improvement from last season. Just don't expect too much.
Baddeley is one of the more peculiar cases on the PGA Tour. He appears to have all the talent to be one of the best players in the world and at times, he's played that way, but for the most part, he's underperformed throughout his career. In his 14 years on the PGA Tour, Baddeley has topped the $3 million mark twice and he's recorded three wins in that time. However, half of seasons on the PGA Tour (seven), he's ended the year under the $1 million mark. Last year was a year where he finished above $1 million, which makes him a poor choice for salary cap leagues this season. In draft leagues he could go anywhere from the sixth through the eighth round.
Baddeley was one of those guys that came onto the PGA Tour with a lot of hype attached and for a while, it looked like he might live up to it, but for whatever the reason, he's failed to play at a consistently high-level for a prolonged period of time. The talent is there, but the consistency hasn't been there for a while. He's not much of a risk at this price, but the upside is limited as well. He should go somewhere around the 10th round in draft leagues.
Baddeley went through a very rough stretch in 2013 and if you were paying attention during that stretch, it's hard to imagine that he played well enough to finish inside the top-125…but he did. Baddeley is simply too good to have stretches of abysmal play like he did in 2013 and if he can avoid falling into that mode this year, he should be fine. Baddeley provides some value in salary cap leagues and he should go in the 70-80 range in drafts.
Earning little more than $1.2 million in any season is a disappointment for Baddeley, but to do so after topping $3 million the previous year is even more disheartening. Baddeley has too much talent to end up where he did last season, and it's only a matter of time before he gets back to the where he was in 2011. Baddeley's troubles can be directly attributed to his performance at the majors. Of his four tries, his best finish came at the Masters where he finished T40. He also missed the cut at The Players Championship. Those are some big purses that he missed out on last year and odds are he won't miss them this year. Expect Badds to get back on track this season and surpass his 2012 earnings quite easily. In draft leagues, look for him in the fifth round.
Aaron Baddeley broke a three-year winless drought last season and topped $3 million for the first time since 2007, which just happened to be the last time he captured a victory. In between those victories, Baddeley really struggled. He nearly lost his card after the 2009 season when he earned little more than $800K. Entering last season, the jury was out on Baddeley. Was he the golfer who nearly won twice in 2007, or the player who couldn't figure anything out in the following three years? If you think that 2011 provided any clarity as to which direction he's headed, think again. Baddeley's putting has steadily declined the last four seasons, yet he's still a good putter overall. His GIR percentage went up last year, yet he's still pretty lousy at hitting greens. He's probably not worth the risk, and his draft position could be all over the place in draft leagues. He should go somewhere in the third round, however.
Baddeley has always been a streaky player, and, unfortunately, he hasn't found a hot streak the last two seasons. He's played well enough to keep his card, but more is expected from the two-time PGA TOUR winner. Baddeley topped out in 2007 when he earned more than $3.4 million, and though that may have been even above his head, he should be earning at least $1 million each season. Baddeley's strength is on the greens, ranking in the top-10 in putting in each of the last three seasons.
Baddeley earned nearly $3.5 million in 2007, but he came crashing back to earth last season when he failed to crack the $1- million mark. Though it will be difficult for Baddeley to make a huge improvement, the potential is there for him to make a big move up the rankings with a successful season.
Aaron Baddeley has rarely been referred to as consistent, going from $3.4 million earnings in 2007 to $1.6 million in 2008. Even with this inconsistency, he's got too much value in this spot to pass on him here and could easily get back into the $3 million club this year.
Baddeley's 2007 season was much like his previous season on the PGA Tour. One week he looks like the next challenger to the Tiger Woods throne, and the next week he is nowhere to be found. Maybe that's a little too harsh. He has improved on his consistency, but he's still got a long way to go. What is promising for Baddeley is the way he finished the season. He finished in the top-25 at all four Fed Ex Cup events including two top-5s.
Baddeley showed flashes of his potential early in the 2006 season, but after a nice run in which he earned a victory at the Verizon Heritage, he fell off the map. Baddeley putted well in 2006, but his ball-striking was awful, ranking 198th on Tour in G.I.R. Baddeley had a stretch of 10 events in which he finished no better than 54th. That's what you get with Baddeley, though. One week you wonder how he hasn't won multiple times, the next you wonder how he got his card. Although he showed high upside in 2006, he still remains a risky pick for 2007.
One word could easily describe Baddeley's 2004 season: ugly. Bads managed to bring in just $632,876 while missing 11 cuts in 27 tournaments. Since Baddeley has all the talent in the world, we figure he'll start to make his move up the list, jumping up to about $2 million this year with at least one tournament victory.
Baddeley fought injuries all year and still did pretty good for a rookie in 2003. He was wildly inaccurate off the tee which lead to missing many greens, but he is young, and he'll get that figured out.