Ian Baker-Finch Just Told You...Figuratively

Ian Baker-Finch hadn't played a competitive round on the PGA Tour in a dozen years.  That round ended in 92 painful shots.  The '91 Open Champion hasn't exactly been riding high in the pro golf scene.  I mean, he still has one more major than Sergio Garcia, but still.

Anyway, he decided to play in this week's Colonial event as a past champion to both celebrate his win 20 years ago there and to gauge if it would be worth his time to prepare to play the Champions Tour. 

He was light-hearted about the whole situation.  Vis a vis Jay Busbee, Baker-Finch told Golfweek:

"I'm sure the Golf Channel will show me . . . will probably show a slim 28-year-old on one side and a fat 48-year-old on the other and have fun with it. I'm totally happy with all that. I'm really, really looking forward to it."

Baker-Finch really doesn't look fat at all.  In fact, he looked pretty thin to me. 

Even better than having a school boy figure, though, is that he shot 68 in round one of the Colonial.  He is five out of the lead entering today.  For any person that was wondering if we would see a horrible repeat of Baker-Finch's past woes, he just laid a smackdown on you.

Larry Dorman of the NY Times notes that a number of the players are pulling for Baker-Finch to be successful.

Chad Campbell walked outside the clubhouse with Baker-Finch on Wednesday with his arm around his shoulders, like a brother. Geoff Ogilvy, a fellow Aussie, said he thought Baker-Finch’s play was “awesome.”

Congrats to Baker-Finch for a great start and I know I'll be pulling for him today in round two.