Black Desert Championship 2024 Preview, Picks & Preview

There is a brand new tournament on the PGA Tour this week, the Black Desert Championship, which marks the first PGA Tour event in Utah in more than 60 years. 

Not so very long ago Aaron Baddeley was widely regarded as one of the most promising players in the world. The Australian is still one of the best putters in the game but has struggled with his game for some time and is now playing for his future. He is languishing in 156th place in the FedEx Cup standings and has been dividing his time between the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour. As things stand, he will have no status on the PGA Tour so he needs to turn things round in a hurry.

When he was in his late teens, Baddeley was seen as one of the most promising talents in the world of golf. He was the youngest player ever to represent Australia in the Eisenhower Trophy and he won the Australian Open as an amateur in 1999 and retained that title the following year, by which time he had turned professional. 

He was named the 2000 Australian Young Male Athlete of the Year. In 2001, he won the Holden International in Australia and finished top of the PGA Tour of Australasia’s order of merit in 2000-01. He seemed to have the world at his feet. However, he was overshadowed by his Australian contemporary Adam Scott.

In 2002, Baddeley played on the second tier Nationwide Tour in the U.S. and placed tenth on the money list to earn a PGA Tour card for 2003. He had second-place finishes on the PGA Tour in 2003 at the Sony Open and at the Chrysler Classic in 2004, but he struggled for consistency, and after a solid rookie season, when he finished 73rd on the money list, he only just retained his card in 2004, when he came 124th. In 2005 he moved back up the rankings to 78th and in 2006 he won his first PGA Tour title, the Verizon Heritage.

Baddeley won his second PGA Tour tournament in early 2007 and reached the top 50 of the world rankings and by September of that year he had entered the top 20. His career high ranking was 17th in 2008.

He led after the third round of the US Open at Oakmont in June 2007 with a two over par score of 212 (72-70-70) but finished with an 80 and ended in a tie for 13th.

After a lull in form over the following few seasons, where he consistently finished in the lower reaches of the top-125 on the money list, Baddeley returned to the winner's circle when he claimed the 2011 Northern Trust Open. He defended a one-shot third round lead over Kevin Na and Fred Couples, finishing with a 69 to beat Vijay Singh by two strokes.

In October 2011, Baddeley was selected by Greg Norman as one of his two wildcard picks for the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in November.

Baddeley started the 2015-16 season playing out of the Past Champions category after finishing 157th in the FedEx Cup and failing to regain a PGA Tour card through the Web.com Tour finals but earned his first win in five years at the 2016 Barbasol Championship, beating Si-Woo Kim in a four-hole playoff. But it has all been a horrible uphill battle since then.

Alexander Bjork was one of the lucky DP World Tour players to gain a PGA Tour card as a result of his play in 2023. It was a dream come true but it has not been the season he hoped it would be. He is 136th in the world rankings and in 167th place in the FedEx standings with not a single top 10 finish. His best effort to date was a tied 11th at the American Express. There have simply been too many missed cuts. He failed to make the weekend at The Open and returned home for the BMW PGA Championship, where rounds of 69 and 75 saw him miss yet another cut. 

He is a three-time winner on the DP World Tour but has admitted that he has not enjoyed life in America. He is not the first European to say this, and he will not be the last. Before winning the Canadian Open, Robert MacIntyre spoke of how difficult he was finding things. But that victory, and another at the Scottish Open, changed everything for the Scot - and that is what Bjork mist hold on to.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

England’s Harry Hall has proved what can be done.

In July, Hall produced the most unlikely of victories, claiming the Isco Championship in the most dramatic of circumstances by winning a five-man play-off by holing a chip for a birdie at the third additional hole to beat American trio Pierceson Coody, Matt NeSmith, Zac Blair and Rico Hoey of the Philippines.

The victory earned Hall an exemption on the PGA Tour until the end of 2026, the small matter of $720,000 and 300 FedEx Cup points - and came just days before his wife Jordan gave birth to their first child.

He turned professional in 2019. He played on the Korn Ferry Tour from 2020 to 2022, winning twice, at the 2021 Wichita Open and 2022 NV5 Invitational. He gained his PGA Tour card for the 2022-23 season via the Korn Ferry Tour regular season.

Hall proves just how quickly everything can change, and will start this week as one of the favourites.

The Course:

Played against the stunning backdrop of southern Utah’s red rock mountains, the par-72 Black Desert Golf Course was designed by Phil Smith and the late Tom Weiskopf, the final design from the World Golf Hall of Fame 2024 inductee. Carved through the desert, it measures 7,200 yards and features a lot of bunkers and relatively narrow fairways.

Form Guide:

Harry Hall is still walking on air after winning for the first time in July and this is a course that should suit his game. Patton Kizzire has put worries about his future to rest and will fancy his chances too.

To Win:

Harry Hall. Full of confidence

Each Way:

Beau Hossler. Great ball striker

Each Way:

Harris English. Underrated

Five to Follow:

Harry Hall. Looking for second win

Beau Hossler. Underachiever

Harris English. Wonderful short game

Patton Kizzire. Back in the winner’s circle

Ryo Hisatsune. Gifted Japanese youngster

Five Outsiders to Watch:

Aaron Baddeley. Tim his running out

Alexander Bjork. Now or never

Ryan Fox. Has struggled to make his mark

Kevin Kisner. Looking to prove he can still do it

Bud Cauley. Looking for a breakthrough