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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

April 20, 2006

Stuart Appleby

HUMBLE, TEXAS

TODD BUDNICK: We welcome Stuart Appleby, the current clubhouse leader, 6 under 66, past champion of this tournament in 1999, a T 2 in 2003, new course and another lead. Just I guess start with talking about today's round first.

STUART APPLEBY: Conditions were quite easy this morning, no wind blowing, so if you weren't too intimidated by pins being sort of four yards from the edges you could go at a lot of them. They're not too hard yet.

I think that there was definitely a 6 under score had to be had out there by somebody, and I was fortunate enough where my round wasn't clean and perfect but there was enough shots where I hit it good enough to give myself opportunities, a couple of good breaks. Some good breaks, and only one real mistake that I made and let probably two shots disappear for the day. Could have been better but could have also not chipped in and made some other stuff. Otherwise a very good solid start. I sort of like the way my game feels right now. I think the course will fit a lot of players' eye this week.

Q. You had a solid Masters, but before that after Hawaii kind of middle of the pack. Was there something that happened before The Masters that sort of turned things around?

STUART APPLEBY: That's my game plan (laughter). No, there was no game plan. I played pretty good at Augusta, I just tended to find my way there. I felt like there was a Top 10 in me and I couldn't manage to squeeze that out. I had an average Sunday.

I'm always trying to prepare my game and get it to the best level any given week. I didn't boast and say I only pull myself up for majors or The Players or world events. I don't have that skill and I don't think many players do. I'm trying to play well all the time. I think that's an addictive thing you want to get into and you keep going and keep playing until it gets out of tune. Certainly with Augusta I'm looking forward to playing at a high level there. I think I'm a player that's better than my results there.

Q. What do you think you are in terms of you've been very close to the top, flirted with the Top 10, you've been a guy who now is roughly 30

STUART APPLEBY: I'm 35 actually in two weeks.

Q. I mean in the rankings.

STUART APPLEBY: About the same.

Q. You've been able to win some tournaments. What do you kind of thing where do you think you're supposed to be?

STUART APPLEBY: I can bore you with statistics and things like that, which is really part of the package. I'd like to hit the ball just a little bit better and I'd like to putt better. It's pretty general. There's not one area of my game where I feel I need to drive the ball better, hit it in the fairways a bit more. I'd like to hit more greens. If I have missed the fairways I'd like to hit more greens. I think my chipping is fine. I think I don't make enough putts. I think that's the secret to the game. I don't think hardly anybody in the history of golf has ever putted average and won a tournament. That's really the thing that will keep you extending like on the 18th when I holed that putt. That could be the putt that wins me the tournament, that could be the putt that didn't matter any ways.

I would say to be when I play well, when you look at my stats, many parts of my game are solid, but certainly my birdie conversion rate, I'm making a lot of birdies, which is confidence in putting. I think I just need to play golf like a very confident golfer and just drive it and keep going. I can only play at my best level for probably another 10 to 15 more years, so let's run across the line. That's probably the thing I've got to do is improve tiny little putts. Tiger always says he's trying to get better. That's the attitude you've got to have.

Q. You said play like a confident golfer. Does that waiver a lot?

STUART APPLEBY: I think you should practice like you want to play. A lot of players would go, oh, if I could just get my confidence. It's not like a cold where you're waiting for it to come up and get you. You've got to go out and get it and I think you've got to develop that on the range and on the putting green, whatever it is. I think Mickelson, Phil, has done a very comprehensive look at his game and learned from mistakes he's made and moved his level up to be now a very confident player and what he's doing and using two drivers. He's coming up with all sorts of ideas to do it.

You always have a very open mind about what you need to do and not be closed minded about it.

Q. Do you have any good ideas for you?

STUART APPLEBY: I think the two driver thing has been taken (laughter), so I don't know.

TODD BUDNICK: Two putters?

STUART APPLEBY: That's probably been done. I think Jesper has done that before.

Q. Two caddies maybe?

STUART APPLEBY: I don't know. I do think that I just need to be a more confident putter I think is the big thing, just be more confident. Not that I sit there and think I'm going to miss every putt, but I just need to be more relaxed because I'm not English, but more comfortable, more relaxed and more true to my true to how I can practice. I guess that's the hardest thing every player has been through, taking the range swing or the range stroke or the range chipping to the course. That's the difference. It's a different animal.

Yeah, making competition much like practice and become very familiar. I think the best players have always managed to do that.

Q. You laughed that it was a lull, but you came out of the gate fast and then it was kind of a lull.

STUART APPLEBY: Yeah, I've never really played well on the West Coast. I don't call Hawaii West Coast. Almost Australia is east coast, it's that far away. I have not managed to do well there, but I'm not too concerned. Getting off to a nice start, there's a lot of people that win races leading the first lap, but there's a lot that never do, too. It's all about the total, how many laps we're doing for a year, and that's a full season. Certainly stronger than ever next year once we move into the FedEx format. Getting off to a good start has always been a weakness of mine and now it's definitely not a weakness and now it's about filling the whole season full of golf and Top 10s and wins and just becoming a more experienced player and getting myself to the next level, which is certainly solidifying a Top 10 position in the World Rankings. Adam Scott has certainly got that number right now, and I've been there but not managed to stay there, and that has been a goal of mine since I was there, to work out a way and find a way to become a better player, to solidify being a player deserved of staying there instead of popping in and out.

Q. Obviously we talk about the Australians having won this year. Is there a comraderie, or if there's not, there's not, but you guys

STUART APPLEBY: There's a big comraderie between Robert Allenby and Mark Hensby. They're very close (laughter). There is. I think all foreigners that travel abroad or leave their homeland have always got that, and I think the Europeans have that when they come over here, Ian Poulter and Darren Clarke, McGinley and so forth that are playing here a bit more often or full time. Same if the Americans came to Australia. They'd be hanging out and talking about the football, have they seen results, et cetera. We are a bit of a family, yeah. It's a big family. It's a Brady bunch times about four.

Q. But is it kind of cool that you guys have won

STUART APPLEBY: This is cool. The thing that we've sort of struggled with in Australian golf is America has the U.S. has the golden child in Tiger right now, and without Tiger there would be a definite degree a dropoff of excitement. It's proven that Tiger can drive events. Greg Norman was our driver of events in years previous, and sometimes in Australia we have the best quality of Australian players, the most depth we've ever had by far, no doubt about that, but we don't have a Greg Norman. The thing we find as Australians is we feel a bit inferior and we need a confidence boost that we are good as a little country on the bottom, and our sponsors are wanting to have a gun, a star, and we don't have that guy right now. We have Robert Allenby dominating Australia, but we don't have that golden child. It's tricky at the moment because they're all waiting for someone to step out of the darkness and become potentially or try and fill some very big boots of Greg Norman, and it's very difficult. When we come over here we're certainly very proud to represent our country, and we're dying to get that number up. 20 something odd players now, we'd love to see it get to 30. That's a huge representation of a very small country on a very big tour. No one else has come close to representing their players.

Q. You guys have four guys who could be Greg Norman.

STUART APPLEBY: Sharkey was different. It's a timing of everything. UK, England had Nick Faldo. It's just different eras. I turned up when Tiger first started so I can only talk about the Tiger Woods period. I can't talk about Arnold and Jack, but Tiger is certainly going to be my relevance. There will be hopefully another gun, person that just lifts Australian golf. I talk about Australian golf because we don't have Greg, but we have a lot of other great players, but sometimes it's just not enough for us, and I call "us" the sponsors and the people in Australia. It's tough to sell something when you don't have your golden child. It would be tough for the Tour to sell without Tiger. One day Tiger is going to be gone, and I think Nicklaus made a quote that one day there's going to be a guy that hits it longer, straighter, hits it straighter and putts better than me, and I think that might be Tiger.

Q. Are you running the risk of becoming a regular at this tournament with the results you're getting?

STUART APPLEBY: First thing, once you get a relationship with a place or a town or a course, you pretty much have to keep that on your schedule. I won the Honda in '97, and every year I went back I played worse, but every year I went back it was only a couple of places worse. By the time I finished there I was like 12th, so that was a cool place for me, and obviously Kapalua is the epitome of a relationship.

I think you do. I think you want that. You don't use that to cling on to your form, but it's nice to know that you've conformed well and you keep coming back. I don't know how long we're staying at this course. I think we're here for a while. I'm sure I will extend a love about Houston, and I think it's about the wind and the breeze. It's a little bit like Australia. Texas has had some Australian winners over the time, so it's something like what we have.

Q. I thought maybe it was the Mexican food.

STUART APPLEBY: We don't have much Mexican food, and we don't have any border patrol (laughter). Tasmania is probably the nearest thing to a foreign country (laughter).

Card time?

TODD BUDNICK: Card, please.

STUART APPLEBY: 3rd hole, par 4, 3 wood, wedge to three feet, tapped it in.

6, made a 25 footer off the back of the green with a putter, just putted it off the fringe. That was definitely one that was a bonus.

8, I had a two putt from about 60 feet, par 5.

9, I hit a poor tee shot with a 7 wood.

10, I made a 12 footer for par.

11, made a 25 footer, so another big bonus there.

Par on 12.

Ugly 6 on 13, hit it in the hazard left on my second shot, took a drop and made a disappointing 6 when really a 4 was in the cards.

Had a chance to make birdie on sorry, then nothing special through the later part of the round.

Then 17, hit a good second shot which was the wrong club and ended up making a birdie, so it was a bonus there from probably about 15 yards from the hole, chipped in, and then a 20 footer on the last.

Q. If Tiger calls his 5 wood a senior club, what is a 7 wood?

STUART APPLEBY: That's my senior club. He hits his 5 wood probably 255 to 265 probably. Tiger has got no rights to talk about senior length (laughter).

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you very much, Stuart.

End of FastScripts.

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