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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 21, 2006

Stuart Appleby

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Stuart Appleby, thank you for joining us here.

STUART APPLEBY: It's nice to see you.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: You are playing this week in your 21st official WGC event. Some opening comments about coming here for the 21st time.

STUART APPLEBY: It's an honor to have played this many events. I'm not sure when the first one was, but 21 ago, quite a while ago. I think the uniqueness of my achievement is that I think Australia was an event where we lost a few Americans that didn't turn up that might have played all the others so far. But it's been nice. It's nice to win one, certainly sooner than later.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Talk about your season so far. You won the Mercedes Championship for the third straight year, and you have another top 10. A pretty good start for you.

STUART APPLEBY: Yeah, I would like to have played better at Buick. And last week in Riviera wasn't really swinging it really good. So I'm looking forward to playing better golf this week.

Q. What was the problem last week, and what have you done the last few days?

STUART APPLEBY: Still working on my swing and trying to make more putts. I didn't hit it I played ordinary I played better over the weekend, but actually hit the ball better and putted worse. I putted really well the first day and hit it bad. So I'll be trying to hit it better and putt better.

Q. Any positive signs like today?

STUART APPLEBY: Yeah, I think so. You've got to be at a world class level when you're playing world class players, especially in this format. You've got to pretty much play decent you can't really have any bad rounds. You have to play at least decent, whatever that is. You could lose a match playing 4 or 5 under, easy, and it could be a good round of golf. You never know what you need to do, but you just have to play well.

Q. Are you disappointed with your record?

STUART APPLEBY: I would like to have won more matches than I have. I would like to have played better. But I'd like to also play better in stroke play events, too. I'd like to win more matches than I lose.

Q. Have you learned anything about how to approach it over the years?

STUART APPLEBY: Maybe just more aggressive and put the pressure on more and just play more aggressive golf.

Q. Do you think that The Presidents Cup experience you've been building up and things like that is liable to

STUART APPLEBY: It's very different tournaments. Very low key, this tournament, compared to The Presidents Cup. So very different. But maybe the same philosophy, be very aggressive.

Q. It should be easier, right?

STUART APPLEBY: No. You're playing on different courses. They're different greens, not always going to be the smoothest greens in California, doesn't produce that for us; they're a little bit bumpy. Everyone has to deal with the lack of the greens. Certainly when we played at Washington they were just phenomenal courses, perfect. It was totally based on skill, no degree of luck. But you need to take the same attitude to any golf course you play and hope that that pans out.

But you do need to be aggressive because you're either going to play no more matches or you're going to keep going. You have to play aggressive and have your game. And if you don't have your game, you've got to hope the other guy has less game.

Q. Have you not had your A game here generally or

STUART APPLEBY: No, I've not, not really, no. No.

Q. I don't have the stats with me, but seems like you've been driving the ball just great.

STUART APPLEBY: Don't know. Actually I'm not sure how that goes.

Q. You've even got a commercial, you're out there driving?

STUART APPLEBY: You never miss a ball in a commercial.

Q. Is it the commitment or are you doing something different?

STUART APPLEBY: I don't know that I'm actually driving better. I don't look at my stats to know. I can't answer that from a statistical point of view. I didn't drive it very good last week until the weekend. Hitting fairways is going to be pretty critical this week. The course is a little bit dry, so it will be a little more difficult than normal. It will still boil down to making putts.

Every tournament is about that. Nobody wins a tournament putting average; nobody in the history of golf has done that. But you can hit the ball average and still win tournaments.

Q. When you show up for an event like this, do you feel like to have a better chance to win, you've got to beat six guys one at a time or beating the whole field in a stroke event?

STUART APPLEBY: Very, very, very, very different. Very different. You probably could get away with a little bit more in match play than you could in stroke play. Because you could have a really bad hole, lose the hole, and play a stretch ordinary, and still win the match, whereas that could cost your event. You could go triple, triple, and lose two holes, and still win 1 up. Whereas there's no way anyone in history anywhere has made two triples in a round and gone on to win a tournament. You have to get the fortunate breaks, and you might not capitalize on that. So it's very, very different. I remember playing Match Play at Wentworth, and I had the second lowest score for the morning, morning rounds, and I was out. I lost.

You run into a bus, and you can't do anything about that. You just hope you don't have those plays. And if you lose to a player like that, then you go, I guess I played good.

Tennis is all about that. You can control the match through what you do. But you really can't sometimes. This is a unique sport that you can't. You can play as good as you want, and if a guy is matching you, that's him, that's his game. There's only defense mentally, there's no physical.

Stroke play is such all about 72 holes, and how Tiger says, you try to put yourself into the back nine on Sunday. There is no back nine on Sunday in this tournament. It's all over in a heartbeat if you get somebody that's doing the right things. It's a weird event mentally because you never know how long the week is going to be. And you never know how good you play, if it's good enough.

Q. Is the baby due next week?

STUART APPLEBY: So far still on schedule.

Q. How long do you plan to take off?

STUART APPLEBY: Two tournaments, Doral and Honda.

Q. Have you been to Augusta or do you plan to go and take a look?

STUART APPLEBY: I haven't made any plans yet. I may, but I'll have to look at my schedule. I haven't traditionally done anything like that for a long time. I'm not sure.

Q. From what you've heard, what are your thoughts on the changes?

STUART APPLEBY: I haven't got really involved in the changes, and I'm not too concerned. They've made very tasteful changes and good correct changes over history. I would have to say my guess is that this would probably be about it. There's not much they can do to the golf course before they make it too difficult.

Q. Right now what is the toughest shot on that course?

STUART APPLEBY: Don't know. I'll let you know ask me Tuesday, Wednesday and I'll let you know. I think few players are concerned about the fourth hole being a bit too long for the type of greens, whether the greens are the same. I don't know if there's a cloud of secrecy or we're not being told anything. The hole was pretty difficult as it was. So I'm not sure the mentality toward lengthening that hole. 1 is much longer.

The rounds are going to be slower than we've ever played because as the course gets longer the play is slower. It's just a matter of how long they'll be.

And the principle behind the changes, have the scores been traditionally too low? Are they trying to make us hit the same club Hogan did into the first hole? Is it a walk down memory lane? I'm not sure what it is. Or is it trying to make someone like Tiger score high?

Q. Do you look at that course and think that it should be a pretty good place for you?

STUART APPLEBY: I'm not sure. I haven't played really well there traditionally. I think ultimately the best would be to get rid of the rough and have firm conditions. But that's probably one in four or five Masterses is going to be firm. The rough would get the ball in the trees a bit more. You don't have to shape the ball like you used to anymore. So it's become easier to some extent and the ball never gets out of control now, so it's easier that way, but they're leaving us with longer shots, which obviously makes it more difficult.

Q. Why do you think you haven't played as well there? You're obviously long enough to play there.

STUART APPLEBY: Long enough to play there, but you still have to play golf. You still have to hit all the right shots at the right time. I don't really know. I haven't played good enough. I have good enough golf to play there, but I haven't played that yet. It's just a matter of me not playing good enough there, not that I can't hit the shots. It's a one way course, and it's not that I can't hit that shot, it's just not having played well enough for enough holes. I've played well but not for 72 holes.

End of FastScripts.

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