Stars paved way for Appleby
By Bill Kwon
Special to The Advertiser
KAPALUA, Maui — Stuart Appleby's victory in the Mercedes Championships was unexpected after his opening-round 74, but he got some unexpected help yesterday.
Matt York • Associated Press
"You would not have put any money on me. That would be a bit silly," said Appleby, who became the first repeat champion since the winners-only event moved to the Plantation Course in 1999.
Ernie Els, left, and Vijay Singh leave the 16th green after putting for par during the final round of the Mercedes Championships.
He capped an improbable comeback with a final-round 67 to win by a stroke with a 21-under-par 271 in the PGA Tour's season opener.
Playing the final 55 holes without a bogey had a little to do with it, but Appleby also received a lot of unexpected assists, especially since it came from the world's top three ranking players — Vijah Singh, Ernie Els and Tiger Woods.
Singh, the wire-to-wire leader going into the final round, took a triple-bogey 7 at the 13th hole after driving into the junk and never recovered.
"I didn't play that bad except for that drive at 13," said Singh, who finished with a 1-over 74 to end a streak of 18 consecutive rounds of par or better in the Mercedes event.
Els, who had birdied the 663-yard 18th hole the first three rounds, hit his tee shot into the right hazard and took a bogey-6 instead of getting a birdie needed to force a playoff.
As for Woods, it was a matter of an uncooperative putter all week.
"I probably had more opportunities (for birdies) within 15 feet than I've had in a long time. I just made nothing. So I don't feel like I got anything out of my rounds," Woods said.
No wonder he was trying to hole out an eagle chip at 18 in a bid to get to 21 under.
Matt York • Associated Press
Stewart Cink also shared part of the lead at 20-under par, but bogeyed two of his final three holes (16 and 18) with shots he wanted to have back.
Tiger Woods lines up his putt on the 10th green at the Kapalua Plantation Course. Woods said he missed too many putts inside 15 feet.
"Yeah, 16 was a bad time to make bogey. I would have liked to have my second shot done over for sure and then I probably would have played my second shot on 18 a little bit differently," said Cink, who flew the green and had to take a penalty drop.
"To have some moments like this, you come off a chance to win and you don't win, you feel like a loser. But I feel shooting 18-under for the first tournament of the year doesn't make me a loser," Cink said.
That left it all up to Jonathan Kaye, the last man standing in Appleby's way. Kaye also needed a birdie to force a playoff.
"I knew what I had to do. I knew I had to make a birdie," said Kaye, who was 45 yards from the flagstick in two.
Tough choice, he said. Bump and run or fly it to the hole.
"I guess I chose the wrong one," said Kaye, who decided to run it up and left himself a 45-foot putt for birdie. He would have chosen the latter if he had to do it all over, according to Kaye, still happy about his second-place finish at 272 worth $600,000.
Playing with Singh and Els in the final group, Kaye couldn't believe Els' errant drive at the wide-open 18th fairway.
"I don't know what he was doing to be honest with you," said Kaye.
"I'm sure Ernie wishes he had that one over again. I don't really know what was going through his mind but he played really nice other than that shot."
Els said he hit it close to where he wanted to on the right side of the slope.
"I got a bad break," said Els, later told that his ball hit the cart path and bounced into the right hazard.
There went any hope for a birdie. As it was he needed a 10-footer for his bogey and a tie for third with Woods at 273.
"This is a game of misses," Appleby said. "Everyone has little hiccups at the start of the year. Every tournament seems to come down to always a shot."
As a result, that left Appleby as the last man standing.
