Is Aaron Baddeley Back?

I was understandably surprised to see Aaron Baddeley at the top of Sunday's leader board at the Northern Trust Open. He'd fallen out of the top 200 (shocking in itself, for player with his early record) and I hadn't heard any rumblings about him playing well of late.

No, it wasn't the major that I predicted for Baddeley back in 2008, but it's a tour win on a storied course with some reasonably tough competition. In other words, it's a good start.

Baddeley, like so many good, young players had fallen to the siren song of getting better. I cannot say for certain that he was yet another victim of Stack & Tilt, but there didn't seem to be any stacking or tilting in his swing I could see. What a relief.

I think young tour players need to be logical when it comes to their game. Baddeley recently went back to Dale Lynch, his first coach back in his native Australia. Now, that's logical: Lynch helped Baddeley build his original swing, the same swing that won him those Australian Opens and his tour wins.

The Stack & Tilt boys and David Leadbetter took what Baddeley already had and changed it. And, as I have pointed out so many times change and improvement are two very different things.

No further comment here. It's simply good to see Aaron Baddeley playing well again.