	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

WGC BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL

August 2, 2008

Stuart Appleby

AKRON, OHIO

JUDE COEN: Thanks for joining us. Finishing with a birdie must be a nice way to finish today headed into tomorrow.
STUART APPLEBY: Yeah, I had a good opportunity on 17 to try and, I guess, sneak another one of a similar length but misread it. I played good today -- I shouldn't say good, played well. Just hit the ball nice, drove it in the fairway, which was critical today with the conditions of the wind to keep minimizing your mistakes on second shots. I had a few long putts out there, but just I played well, really proper, solid golf, and stuff like I'd like to be playing for more years yet.
JUDE COEN: The last two rounds especially have been better than your first. How is the course?
STUART APPLEBY: The course has gotten tougher. It has toughened up. We had it really difficult, probably the most difficult I've seen it for greens speed, probably as tough as Augusta, or quicker, on Monday or Tuesday, and then we had the rain and sort of lost that. I was really hoping we could keep that because I think even par would be a good score right now. The course is toughening up. Today will be the best of whatever scoring is left out there. I think tomorrow if you shot 3- or 4-under, that would be excellent golf, if we have conditions with the amount of breeze that we had, which was varying between -- well, at least a half a club, I guess.

Q. Last 45 holes as well as you've played in a while?
STUART APPLEBY: Yeah, very much so. Yeah, just really been hitting the ball generally pretty good, apart from the start of the first nine holes, first round. But just been trying to really focus on -- focusing on the shot and just relaxing a lot more, and that's sort of shown some good results in all parts of my game, putting, chipping and driving. Still a long way to get the job done, though, but it's certainly a very comfortable spot to know, good resources to use knowing that I've come back after an awful nine holes.
You know, when you normally waste a couple shots, sometimes you can think yourself out of the tournament, but when you waste five you think you've made a whole mess of it. But to know I haven't leaves me in good stead for tomorrow maybe.

Q. Is this tournament any different with your wife's family being here, a little more distractions here?
STUART APPLEBY: Pretty consistent. I've been here for so many years now I've sort of got a rhythm of this place. Probably a lot more demands for tickets probably. Yeah, comfortable, familiar. It's good to be here. It's a good golf course, and obviously for family reasons, it's great for them, so I'm very pleased.

Q. How many family members are following?
STUART APPLEBY: Oh, I didn't see today. I didn't really look, probably maybe half a dozen, I'm not sure.

Q. You don't have to say where you're staying, but are you staying with them or hotel?
STUART APPLEBY: I can't say (laughter). Hotel.

Q. Did you meet her up here?
STUART APPLEBY: Yes.

Q. At this event?
STUART APPLEBY: In 2000.

Q. What's the status of baby No. 3?
STUART APPLEBY: It's still in the oven.

Q. That's what I meant.
STUART APPLEBY: What do you mean the status?

Q. Due date, gender. You've been through this twice before, haven't you?
STUART APPLEBY: The status is late October is the due date.

Q. Male?
STUART APPLEBY: (Nodding head.) We didn't find out at first, because we just didn't, but we're having the third in Australia, so we thought, well, obviously we need baby clothes, what do we do about packing. What do you do for something you don't know. We decided, let's go find out. We only did it for selfish reasons so we knew what to pack in the suitcase effectively. Now that we know it's a boy we went and rifled through six containers of stuff to keep enough neutral stuff, to keep, as my coach calls him, Stevie, because he wants me to name it after him, Stevie, to keep him happy.
JUDE COEN: Just on that, you're the only player to have played every single World Golf Championships event. Do you think about that much at all?
STUART APPLEBY: No, I think it's quite unique. Obviously if I can stay fit, I'll always be that person. I think they'll last through my days on TOUR, so I don't know. I know I'm not likely to catch one particular gentleman by winning a lot of them, but I certainly would be disappointed if I couldn't get my own -- more than memento piece of Waterford or Wedgeford stuff. I've seen Tiger hold so many, it would be nice to hold one up. I'm certainly overdue. I've been a long time doing this, so it would be nice.

Q. What changes have you noticed in the World Golf Championships since the very first one?
STUART APPLEBY: I thought they held a really uppity status very early on. I didn't feel like there was a building of them over the years. I always felt like they were unique very early on. You know, I didn't -- people ask, how does it compare to today. I've felt momentum with this format for years, so I don't feel like they've just come good in the last two, three, four years. I think The Presidents Cup come good over time. You could really see a ramping up of the popularity of that, versus the Ryder Cup, which was more peaked. But here I thought when they slipped in, when our purses were a lot lower, they really held some weight with the players.

Q. What happened? Are they still there?
STUART APPLEBY: Yeah, absolutely. I think they peaked and have maintained a priority for the players. I mean, obviously there's been some awesome champions, obviously Tiger somewhere around half, he's always given a good show. But I just -- they have. I don't know how you put it. They got acclaim very quickly, and that's hard to do. Normal tournaments have to build that. Very few, Wachovia and certainly Charlotte built a reputation very quickly that takes 15 years for other tournaments to build or longer, and because of the concept and the promotion and the world's players, I know it was trying to be geographically played on the world stage but more about the world's players coming together, I think that was a good formula really.

Q. Do you feel like you can give it a shake tomorrow as well as you played?
STUART APPLEBY: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. There's some pretty good players, but I'll just go do my thing and see if that's enough, really. I've enjoyed it up to this stage, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it whatever happens tomorrow. I think there's a good chance that I can turn this year around now. It happens to be -- I'm in a unique position because I've had an average, okay year, but right now with the reranking in the playoffs I'm about to get I guess the place cards come out and I'm about to jam up on a bunch of good players, and now the way I'm playing I feel like I've got a good set of wheels behind me and I can maybe finish near the top, turn a so-so year into maybe even a potential Steve Stricker, like what he did, or even one spot higher. The one spot higher guy, he's out of here.

Q. What's the most off the wall thing that anyone has ever yelled at you from along the gallery ropes, that's maybe even made you blush.
STUART APPLEBY: I've never had any to make me blush. No, I can't really think. I get tired of the "Get in the hole," and I get really tired of that when it turns up at a British Open. That really drives me crazy because that's something that should only happen over here, at least, no more than that. When you hear an Englishman or Irishman yell out, "Get in the hole," I think golf has gone too far. No, I haven't had any proposals or shirt lifts or anything exciting like that. I'm trying to get Jude, but she won't do it (laughter).

Q. Is this a venue worthy of the World Golf Championships?
STUART APPLEBY: Absolutely. I think it's a great golf course. I reckon many players think they should shoot lower here, but it just doesn't let you. There has been some low years here, but there's been some years where you're like, it's not that hard, why can't you shoot 3-under or whatever out there every day. It's just a really good quality golf course. I wish we played more courses like this. It really is a good test. It's a pity we can't seem to keep the rain away. More years here firm you'll see it being one of the toughest courses we play, outside of having hay-like rough.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297