VACATION

No post this week. On vacation in San Diego. Playing golf instead of reporting it.

Fantasy results: Northern Trust Open 2011

T12	Bill Haas
T25	Martin Laird
T35	Phil Mickelson
Cut	Marc Leishman

Once I was blind, but now I can see. John 9:13-41

Two years ago, Aaron Baddeley toiled in darkness and decided to abandon the “stack and tilt” swing theory. Today Baddeley has seen the light and it shined bright on the eighteenth green at Riviera CC. Baddeley’s victory marks his third career win, his last being what seemed a lifetime ago in 2007. The day started with a four ball of contenders that seemed like a generational rumble. Fred Couples and Vijay Singh on one side and Kevin Na and Aaron Baddeley on the other; the last man standing was Baddeley.

All four made birdie on the par five first and the game was on, but one by one, they dropped like flies. Kevin struggles came quickly, bogeying two of his next three holes. Couples deathblow came on holes six and seven-bogey, double bogey, giving Baddeley a three shot cushion. Vijay Singh went bogey, bogey on holes twelve and thirteen, but rallied with a birdie on sixteen to help him secure a solo second.  There was a glimmer of hope for Couples late in the round when Baddeley’s faith and game were tested after he made double on twelve. Couples was just two back for a fleeting moment until Baddeley bounced back with a birdie on thirteen.  The rest of the final round was just semantics as Baddeley cruised to victory with four straight pars.

Easily the second best story today was Erik Compton. We often get lost in the G6 jet stream of top players and forget about how hard it is to make it on tour. Two-time heart transplant recipient, Compton had to Monday qualify for the Northern Trust Open and he made the best of it with a top 25 finish. His seven under, 64 was low round for the day.

1	Aaron Baddeley	-12	67 69 67 69 272
2	Vijay Singh	-10	68 70 67 69 274
3	Kevin Na	-9	71 66 67 71 275