VALSPAR CHAMPIONSHIP

March 21, 2024

Aaron Baddeley

Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead)

Quick Quotes

Q. Nice start. Couple of eagles out there. Can you take us through those and what those meant to your round.

AARON BADDELEY: Yeah, I don't think I've had an eagle all year and I think I had two in one round, so that was pretty cool. I had, like, 69 yards for my third shot on 5 or whatever it is, 5. When the ball was in the air, I actually said to my caddie, like, this looks perfect and it sort of just bounced just short of the green, kicked up, and rolled in.

Then on 14, hit two really nice -- hit a nice drive, a nice 3-wood to about 8 feet.

Q. What did you have in with the 3-wood --

AARON BADDELEY: 3-wood, yeah.

Q. -- how far?

AARON BADDELEY: From 272 or 276 or something like that.

Q. How close did you hit it?

AARON BADDELEY: 8 feet.

Q. Those help a little, don't they?

AARON BADDELEY: They help a lot, especially because I made that double. So it was nice to pick up two in one, yeah.

Q. Are you as long now as you ever have been?

AARON BADDELEY: No, I feel like I'm not as long as I was when I was a little bit younger. I feel like it's -- yeah, but I'm actually not as far behind as what I thought.

Q. What else went pretty well today?

AARON BADDELEY: Putted well. I missed a few greens, but I was able just to -- the short game and putting is in a nice spot, so I was not too stressed if I miss a green. I feel like I've got the short game to be able to get it up and down.

Q. Looking at your results, there's been a handful of finishes in the 20s, so it's got to be like the game's in pretty good shape?

AARON BADDELEY: Yeah, it feels like the game's sort of right about there. Just need just a little something just to kick it over the edge. Hopefully, today's round sort of will be a nice little start for that.

Q. You had a birthday this week?

AARON BADDELEY: Yeah, last Sunday.

Q. What did you do with that big crew?

AARON BADDELEY: We missed the cut, so we went to Topgolf. I had the family at THE PLAYERS with us, so we went to Topgolf. Then we went to our favorite spot in Ponte Vedra, TacoLu, went there for lunch, and then headed to the airport, so it was good, yeah.

Q. How big is your crew now?

AARON BADDELEY: 15 and 13, girls. And then 11, 9, 6, 4, boys.

Q. You're so busy off the course. Does that almost help as a, you don't put too much focus here?

AARON BADDELEY: Yeah, for sure. My boys love to play golf, so there's days I want to take off and they're like begging me to go to the golf course, and I'm like, Sure, I'll take you. There's some days where I want to take a day off, and they want to go play, so I'll take 'em out. So that's pretty fun.

Q. It's early here, but how much does the competitor inside you relish kind of getting in the mix?

AARON BADDELEY: Yeah, for sure. That's what we practice for. You sort of feel -- I feel a bit frustrated or disappointed when you don't get in the mix, especially when you feel like the game's sort of in a good spot, you're like, Come on, I want to get in, get right in there. I think that's what, that's why I'm out here. I'm out here to -- I want to have a chance to win.