Speaking on a media call this morning to mark his 500^th PGA TOUR appearance at this week’s Fortinet Championship in California, Baddeley said he was looking forward to playing in the Open for the first time since 2016 when he finished in a tie for fourth behind the winner, American Jordan Speith.

This year’s event, from November 30 to December 3, will be played at The Australian and The Lakes golf clubs, just down the road from where an 18-year-old Baddeley burst onto the golf scene with his memorable win as an amateur in the 1999 Australian Open at Royal Sydney.

He backed up a year later, now as a professional, to successfully defend his title at Kingston Heath.

“I’m planning to come down and play the Australian Open,” Baddeley said today.

“I’m excited to get back, and it’s nice that it’s in December, so it’s past some of the fall events here.

“I’m excited to be coming back and playing.”

Baddeley enjoyed a career resurgence on the PGA TOUR in the 2022/23 season and will undoubtedly be a threat back home in Sydney.

Having been as high as 16 on the world rankings, and as low as 836 as recently as 2022, the 42-year-old, playing on a past winner’s exemption, picked up three top-10 finishes this year to earn a place in the FEDEX Cup Playoffs.

He is now ranked 224^th in the world and will join an Australian Open field that already includes Cam Smith, Min Woo Lee and Lucas Herbert.

Baddeley will become only the sixth Australian to play 500 PGA TOUR events, joining Steve Elkington, Stuart Appleby, Jim Ferrier, Robert Allenby and Bruce Crampton.