Barjon heading to the PGA Tour with a steady presence at his side
Paul Barjon makes just about everything on the golf course look easy.
From smashing long drives to flushing irons to rolling in putts with regularity, the 2019 Osprey Valley Open champion appears to be something like a well-designed golf robot. Since turning pro in 2016, he's accumulated three Mackenzie Tour wins, qualified for the U.S. Open twice, and with a 2021 Korn Ferry Tour win under his belt, the 28-year old has secured his PGA Tour card for the 2021-22 season.
From the perspective of Barjon's caddie, Alex Riddell, however, the ease with which his player makes birdies and lifts trophies belies the hard work it takes to carve a path through the ranks of professional golf, and the uncertainty that comes with the territory.
"We were a few weeks in," says the caddie of their first season working together on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020, "and I'm thinking, 'man, this isn't an easy as I thought.'"
That season began with Riddell, who goes by the simple moniker 'Al,' on the bag for the first handful of events to start the year in South America and the Caribbean. The two became acquainted on the Mackenzie Tour, where Riddell had worked since 2015, first driving the Tour's signage and equipment trailer across the country as an Operations Manager in 2015 and 2016 before becoming a Rules Official.
In 2019, Barjon qualified for the RBC Canadian Open in Riddell's hometown at Hamilton Golf & Country Club. With a rare week off from his usual traveling schedule, Riddell offered to carry the bag in what was the Frenchman's second career PGA Tour start. The pair hit it off, opening with a bogey-free 68 and finishing tied for 20th alongside Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas.
The momentum carried throughout the season for Barjon, who went on to win the Osprey Valley Open to cement his place atop the Order of Merit and secure exempt status for the following season on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Fast forward to January, and after missing the in Panama, Riddell caught a glimpse of the determination and hard work that fuels Barjon's seemingly effortless game.
“He keeps a pretty tight book and I always know he’s giving me good information”
"We missed the cut, and Paul just gets to the course on Saturday morning at 7 a.m.. It's 30 degrees already, and Paul hit balls for seven hours," says Riddell. "You could see that even though we hadn't played well yet, he was building on something."
That something arrived quickly. The next week, Barjon showed signs of form with opening rounds of 68-66 in Colombia, including a birdie-birdie-eagle start in the second round that prompted his fellow competitor Dawie van der Walt to remark in passing to Riddell: "this guy's shooting 59 today."
A top-30 finish followed, and the momentum began for a stretch that would see the pair record four top-three finishes before the summer was over. As the season went on, caddie and player developed a strengthened rapport. Riddell introduced Barjon to meditation practice to sharpen his focus, while Riddell quickly learned how to best support his player.
"You can't just be a cheerleader out there. Whether a putt goes in or not, you've got to be that stable force for your player," says Riddell.
For his part, Barjon echoes the sentiment that as the season has gone on, the two have found greater synergy on the course.
“He's starting to know what works for us, and what he needs to do to know the courses the best way he can. On Mondays, he walks the course and takes notes, and I do my thing and practice, then after we’ve played on Tuesday and Wednesday, we sit down and put a plan together for the week,” says Barjon “He keeps a pretty tight book and I always know he’s giving me good information.”
What stood out most during that summer of solid play, however, wasn't Barjon's Tour-quality game coming into form. Riddell realized that his player's true strength lies between his ears, with a rock-solid sense of belief that he can rely on in any number of situations.
"We were outside the cutline one Friday, and needed to go three under on our last seven to play the weekend," Riddell recalls, when Barjon's inner belief and outward calm shone through. "We've got two Par-5s to play, and he makes par on the first one. At that point it's not looking great, but then he birdied a Par-3, then makes another birdie, and then holes out from 90 yards on the last hole.
"He's just got that next gear that he can get to when he needs it."
As for making everything look easy? Others have started to take notice. Riddell says a longtime Korn Ferry Tour caddie who simply goes by the name 'Turtle' pulled him aside during a round last summer and said simply, "I've been caddying out here for more than 20 years. Paul's got the most complete game of anyone I've seen."
“You can’t just be a cheerleader out there. Whether a putt goes in or not, you’ve got to be that stable force for your player”
In May, with the Korn Ferry Tour's extended season in its second calendar year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Barjon locked down his PGA Tour card with a win at the Huntsville Championship, once again using a late charge with four birdies over his final eight holes to force a playoff.
On the third playoff hole, a reachable downhill par-5, Riddell and Barjon settled on a 5-iron - and noted how similar the shot was to the one that secured the 2019 Osprey Valley Open title. Back then, Barjon put the tournament away with a pure strike that found the green and led to a three-stroke win.
"As we were deciding what club to hit," Riddell says, "Paul looked at me and said 'This is just like on the last hole at TPC Toronto."
Once again, Barjon's pure swing put the ball on the green, and when he rolled in the eagle putt, Barjon had earned the title - his fourth as a professional, and first with 'Al' on the bag. It was a leave-no-doubt capstone on what has been a brilliant season, the foundation of which has been Barjon's hard work and steady self belief.
"It's been awesome to be a part of this run, and fun to watch Paul perform the way we know he can," says Riddell. "I'm just excited to see what we can do next."