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Southwest becomes official airline of golf

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 14:51:00 GMT

Our image of professional golfers is they all take private jets from one tour stop to another, but most of them fly commercial. They show up at the airport an hour before their flight and wait in security lines alongside the rest of us. You just never hear about them.

Aaron Baddeley and his family check into their flight.

On Monday, Aaron Baddeley and Kenny Perry ambushed a Southwest flight from Orlando to Houston, handing out gift bags with Adams Golf swag, signed golf balls and even Adams golf clubs. The flight, which kicked off a partnership between Adams Golf and Southwest Airlines, commemorated Southwest as the "official airline of golf."

Travelers held "Quiet Please" signs as the stewardess gave safety instructions.

"We want to be Southwest in the golf space," says Scott Blevins, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Adams Golf. "They've positioned themselves as a fun-loving company, and our clubs, which are easy to hit, make golf fun."

Before the flight took off, the pilot said things like, "Our flight plan is a dogleg left," and, "There'd be about 3,000 par 5s from Orlando to Houston." Perry and Baddeley even had a putting competition down the aisle, which was described as "the world's fastest putting green." After Perry won, a lucky traveler on the left side of the plane won a free round-trip flight.

Baddeley putts down the aisle, with a plastic club.

This isn't the first time Southwest has provided a surprise in-flight experience. They've organized in-flight concerts (Matt Kearney, the guy who wrote the Golf Boys 2.Oh song, and American Idol winner Kris Allen have both performed), and they're planning to provide stand-up comedy and even in-flight business seminars for people traveling to TED talks.

One thing that has made Southwest golf-friendly for years? Travelers can check their golf travel bags for free. That won't be changing anytime soon.

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Aaron Baddeley: Steal My Feel

Aaron Baddeley — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Aaron Baddeley, three-time winner on the PGA Tour, gives this tip for dealing with nerves while putting.

March 2013 Table of Contents

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Inside the numbers: Five lessons from 2012

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 07:44:00 GMT

By Alex Myers

An exciting 2012 PGA Tour season is in the books, but that doesn't mean it still can't teach us things. A look through the final statistics reveals plenty about what happened -- and some things we can expect going forward. Here are five observations that stood out:

Strokes gained-putting has become the go-to putting stat: Let's hear it for math! First, Nate Silver showed up traditional polling methods by correctly predicting all 50 states in the recent presidential election and now the PGA Tour's newest metric has reached a similar point of infallibility: Brandt Snedeker -- this year's FedEx Cup champion, who is widely regarded as the game's best on the greens -- was ranked No. 1. It goes beyond that, though, with Luke Donald (last year's top-ranked putter) checking in at No. 3 and guys like Aaron Baddely and Zach Johnson being tied for eighth. In other words, this stat developed in part by MIT researchers and introduced last year isn't just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. Keep that in mind as we tackle the next two topics.

Camilo Villegas should call Dave Stockton: Remember Camilo Villegas? You know, that guy who does the "Spider-Man" routine on the greens? Well, apparently, it's not working anymore. The Colombian had perhaps the most disastrous season of any tour player, finishing 144th on the money list to lose his tour card and make him an unlikely competitor at this year's Q School. For a guy who still ranked fourth in greens in regulation, putting is obviously the main culprit. Going back and forth between traditional and belly putters, he ranked 164th in strokes gained-putting. Oddly enough, Villegas also shot 65 or better in four opening rounds this year, but wound up finishing no better than T-19 in any of those events. While he's got his phone out, maybe he should give Bob Rotella a ring as well. . .

Villegas' 2012 struggles stemmed from bad putting. (Photo: Getty Images)

Imagine if Lee Westwood could chip and putt? Westy was his usual consistent self in 2012 racking up seven top 10s in just 15 PGA Tour events, while missing the cut only once. However, the Englishman finished dead last (191 out of 191) in scrambling percentage and 175th in strokes gained-putting. So how did he still produce such great results? Well, it helps being third on tour in greens in regulation. Still, if Westwood wants to finally stop coming up short in majors, he should start by giving a long look at his short game.

Bo Van Pelt and Robert Garrigus are due for a win: Van Pelt had 10 top 10s, tied for first on tour with Rory McIlroy, and Garrigus racked up the most runner-ups on tour with four -- and that doesn't count a recent T-2 at the tour-sanctioned CIMB Classic in Malaysia. But if you think they didn't take home any trophies because they didn't play well under pressure, you'd be wrong. BVP had the 19th-best final-round scoring average and got out-dueled by a certain 14-time major winner wearing a red shirt in his closest call at the AT&T National. Meanwhile, Garrigus closed even better by breaking par in all five of the final rounds in which he finished just off the pace, including 68s at his first (Humana Challenge) and last (Disney) events of the year and a 64 at the Transitions Championship, where he lost to a birdie by Luke Donald in a playoff. If these guys continue to play this way in 2013, there's a good chance both could graduate from being one-time PGA Tour winners.

"Badds is" still bad at ball-striking: He may have won at "Hogan's Alley," Riviera CC, in 2011, but that's as close as Aaron Baddeley will ever come to being compared to "The Hawk." No matter what swing (At one time, he was the poster boy for the "Stack & Tilt" method) the Aussie uses, he just can't seem to improve his game from tee to green. This year, he ranked 179th on tour in ball-striking, but in the past decade, he has never finished higher than 120th, with most of those years being just as bad, if not worse than this past season (196th in the 2005 campaign being the low point). Considering he's been a pro since 2000, we find little reason to believe this trend will change in the near future. Then again, Baddeley has more than 15 million reasons in just PGA Tour earnings to not be too concerned.

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Golf's Biggest Breakups

Alex Myers and Sam Weinman — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Breaking up is hard to do, even in golf. From husbands and wives to players and caddies to players and putters, we rank the highest-profile splits in golf.

Aaron Baddeley: The Greenside Bunker Shot

GolfDigest.com — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Video: Aaron Baddeley, who ranks sixth on the PGA Tour in sand saves this year, shares his strategy for getting out of a high-lipped bunker shot.

Aaron Baddeley: Steal My Feel

Aaron Baddeley — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Aaron Baddeley ranks sixth on the PGA Tour in sand saves (62.5 percent) this year. Here's his advice clearing a high lip.

Final-Round Flameouts

Alex Myers — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 04:00:00 GMT

A look at recent examples of contenders crumbling on Sunday at major championships.

Kevin Na gets upset after being put on the clock at Colonial

Fri, 25 May 2012 19:33:00 GMT

Kevin Na, the man with the stuttering golf swing, ran afoul of the law at the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Friday's second round when his threesome with Johnny Huh and Aaron Baddeley were placed on the clock for slow play. Na objected to the action strenuously. Huh shot a 66 Friday and was at four-under par through 36 holes. Baddeley's 70 left him one-over par going to the weekend. Na made three bogeys after being put on the clock -- Nos. 9, 12 and 14 -- but birdied Nos. 16 and 17 to shoot 71 and also be at one over after 36 holes. Here's what Na had to say after Friday's round at Colonial CC:

"We were in position all day. We were waiting the first few holes. I'm constantly looking where we are in position. Off the sixth tee we were in perfect position, off the seventh tee we were doing fine, we were in perfect position. We struggled a little bit on eighth, the par-3, as a group because we had long shots and long putts coming in and we stand on nine and we get off the tee and they are telling us we are on the clock. I get on nine green and I look down 10 fairway and they are on the green. We have an 11-minute interval and we are in position. After I putted on the hole I called them over and said, 'Look, we're in position, we shouldn't be on the clock.' That's all."

Asked if he thought he was being singled out, Na said: "No comment, no comment."

But he was clearly angry:

Swing Sequence: Aaron Baddeley

Ron Kaspriske with swing analysis by Dale Lynch — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Aaron Baddeley's goal is to get his body to release through impact, keeping his left arm soft to restrict hand action. View a frame-by-frame look at his swing with analysis by Dale Lynch.