Australia's Appleby makes it 2 in a row

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

KAPALUA, Maui — After staggering from the starting line, Stuart Appleby sprinted past the pack in the final lap to retained his title at the Mercedes Championships yesterday. He is the first to win back-to-back championships since Lanny Wadkins in 1982 and 1983 when the tournament was played at La Costa (Calif.).

Stuart Appleby, of Australia, held off the world's top players, including Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods, to win the Mercedes Champion-ships. Matt York • Associated Press

"I would have thought if it was the start of maybe a U.S. Open, a 1-over par might not look too bad," Appleby said. "But seeing where Vijay started, at 7-under, being eight shots back was a bit disappointing. ... I was last, almost."

Singh, who had led practically from the moment this PGA Tour season started Thursday, finally lost his advantage and aura of invincibility when he triple-bogeyed the 13th hole. A final-round 74 left him tied for fifth with Stewart Cink and Adam Scott, whose 65 was the best round of a cold and dreary Maui day.

Els went into the eminently birdie-able final hole (663-yard downhill par-5) a shot back. He was done in by the cart path. Els aimed right, trying to get the ball to run down the hill as it naturally funneled left. He watched in astonishment as his ball faded farther than he wanted, then faded a bit farther with a push from the kona wind. It landed just right of his target, but bounced high off the pavement and into the hazard.

The ensuing bogey gave him 71 and left him tied for third with Woods, who suffered through putting's twilight zone all week on the slow, grainy greens.

"I think I had 300 putts," Woods said, able to smile when it was over. "It was one of those weeks when I didn't make anything. The only bright spot was I really hit it good."

That left Jonathan Kaye, No. 47 in the World Golf Ranking and yesterday's runner-up by one shot, as Appleby's last threat. Kaye put himself in that position by chipping in for eagle from 35 yards on the ninth hole to go 20-under. He moved into first with birdie on the next hole, but gave it back with bogey on the 12th.

"It's hard to hit a 5-iron from an upslope to a downhill green with the wind blowing 35 miles an hour in your face and blind," Kaye shrugged in explanation.

He and Appleby remained tied until Appleby birdied the 17th with a 30-foot putt. They were joined by Stewart Cink for three holes and Els for one, but only Kaye had a shot at forcing a playoff on the final green. It turned out to be a long shot.

In good position after his first two swings, Kaye's pitch shot into the green from a few yards out left him far short.

"I had a decision to either fly it to the hole or run it up there and I guess I chose the wrong one ...," Kaye said. "If I had it to do over again, I'd fly it all the way to the hole and, worse comes to worse, you've got an 8- or 10-footer. That's better than 45 feet."

Appleby had no such dilemmas from the moment he opened with one of only four over-par rounds Thursday. In his defense — title and otherwise — he hadn't been able to swing a club only a few days earlier because of a muscle inflammation that ran down his back. And, wife Ashley is expecting their first child this week.

But Appleby never needed those excuses. He was actually encouraged by how he hit the ball in his 74, and proved it by blasting out a 64 the next day. He did not have a bogey in the final 55 holes.

Singh didn't have one for the first 57. Ultimately, it didn't matter. The big three could do no better than top five.

"Everyone has little hiccups at the start of the year ...," said Appleby, who apparently had all his Thursday. "I was really doing my own thing and just hoping ... well, that's all I could do — run hard across the line and see if I get my nose in front."

He swore he didn't see a leaderboard all day because "I didn't need to. What was it going to tell me?"

"There was no time for me," Appleby said. "I was really running hard for the line. I just knew there wasn't much going on behind. It was very quiet in the crowds and I sort of had a target in mind, a score. ... I just had to keep my head down and do my thing."

Appleby's magic number was 22-under, which was good enough to beat Singh by a shot last year. He nearly got there, but didn't have to with wet, windy weather turning the Plantation upside down.

The 33-year-old Australian, who was 106th in final-round scoring last year, pulled into a tie for first when he eagled the sixth hole. Appleby drove the 389-yard par-4, which played much shorter yesterday, and drilled in a 12-foot putt.

He never backed off while, around him, the world's finest got flustered.

"Golf is a simple game that's made very complicated through a lot of thought processes and actions," said Appleby, 14th in the world rankings. "You've really got to simplify it and keep it simple. I guess watching Vijay last year was a great example of how simple he made the game look. Just bang, bang, bang, putt. When you play good, quality golf the game does look simple. It's not difficult."

Not when you just won $1,060,000.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.