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MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIPS

January 6, 2006

Stuart Appleby

KAPALUA, HAWAII

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thanks, Stuart, for joining us for a few minutes in the media center at the Mercedes Championship. Good solid round out there under the conditions that we had today. Just talk about the weather and what you did well out there today in those conditions.

STUART APPLEBY: The weather was a very deciding factor on how you were going to play, how well you were going to play. This is the strongest wind -- as strong as we've ever had by far, certainly mixed with new fresh greens and quick greens, it was pretty tough.

I didn't do anything outstanding. I didn't really make many mistakes. Didn't make many. Controlled the ball pretty well. Putted pretty good. Also missed some good opportunities. Just a really tough day.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Questions, please.

Q. Are you feeling in your comfort zone here?

STUART APPLEBY: Not a comfort zone, no. I know how to play the golf course, but I don't think I have any sort of advantage or anything over anybody else because it's not a tricky, complicated golf course. It just requires, I guess, good play. The fairways are wide, so it's not like -- if it was narrower, you'd expect it to be perfect for Jim Furyk, Fred Funk. It's pretty wide, so you hit the fairways. Just I guess getting the right club in your hand and playing the slopes, then making putts, not making many bogeys is very important. Just chipping away, trying to go forward, especially in these conditions.

Q. What happened with the tee shot on 18?

STUART APPLEBY: I don't know. I thought it was all right actually. I wasn't too concerned about it till I was in the hazard. I don't really know. I thought it was all right. Actually, I wanted to be down the left side. It was going to be a tough five because I knew I couldn't really get close to the green, I could only keep it right. Really, really quick chip. Just difficult coming from that side. That hole definitely is much easier if you can get on for two. If you're not on for two, it's like a slippery slide down there.

Q. Is this even close to the course on which you won back-to-back tournaments here?

STUART APPLEBY: Not in these conditions, no. I mean, I was, what, 22, 21 under. If anyone gets near 10-under par, if it keeps up like this, you'd win easy, I think.

Q. What are the main differences playing it this way as compared to the last two years?

STUART APPLEBY: I think the weight of the wind, there's a lot more wind. It's always been breezy here, but this is a lot of wind. That extra 10 or 15 miles an hour really makes the course three to five shots harder, at least. Greens being quicker, you've got to be more cautious. You just don't get away with shots as much. It all adds up. It's really hard to pinpoint how much harder the course is. There's a lot of really quick putts out there now, whereas you could get through the day with half your putts being quick. Now there's three-quarters of them that you've got to show a lot of respect.

Q. Do you feel like you've played close to your best the last two days?

STUART APPLEBY: No, I -- I don't think anybody's played close to their best. These types of conditions don't allow that. Not at all.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Can you go through the birdies and bogeys, please.

STUART APPLEBY: Bogeyed 2. Hit a good shot in. Hit a good putt. Missed it. That was about probably six foot.

3, I had a good opportunity there. Just lipped it out on the bottom side from about 12 feet above the hole.

4, glad to make 4. Had sort of an opportunity for birdie there. Made par on the par 5, first par 5. Hit a poor chip shot. Should have probably given myself a chance for birdie. Ended up making a scratchy five.

Downhill, par 4, par, no big deal there. 30-foot 2-putt.

7, what did I do? Good 2-putt there from a long way, left pin-high.

Good tee shot into 8. Missed it. 20-odd foot.

9, great up and down. Over the back center, so I chipped it down on the green. Got up and down from six or seven feet there for a good five.

10, made about, I'd say, a 20- to 25-footer. Real curling fast right to left.

11, 2-putt.

12, should have made birdie there. Left it short right. Missed about an 8-footer there.

Missed about an 8-footer on the next for birdie.

Short par 4, up the hill, 14, made about a 30-footer there -- 25-footer for birdie.

Par 5, hit it to about a foot there.

Hit a great putt on 16. Lipped it out on the low side from about 10 feet.

17, up and down, being short, holed about a 5-footer there.

Hit it in the hazard, took a drop, knocked it up, 2-putted to six.

Q. Does your comfort level on this course compare to anything else?

STUART APPLEBY: It's not a comfort level. I just play each shot as it comes. I wish I could tell you there was something -- some secret I had here. No, there's nothing.

Q. You've won the last two years and don't...

STUART APPLEBY: I just know how to play the course. I don't know. Ask the other players. Maybe I get -- pick the right club more often than others. I don't know if I hole more putts or not. I don't watch the highlight reel of what everyone else is doing.

I guess I don't make as many mistakes and I make a few more birdies. Every year it's come down to one or two shots. There's a bunch behind me. It's not like I'm six shots ahead every year and I just rump away with it.

Q. Any part or parts of your game feel in better shape this time around?

STUART APPLEBY: Well, the course has been so tough, it's hard to really feel it. The greens are so much quicker, so the putting areas are more difficult. That's tougher.

No, it feels pretty similar. All the game feels pretty good. I felt like I was swinging it pretty good last year, chipping and putting well. I sort of feel like that this year. It's hard to gauge it because it's so much more difficult out there. You don't get on the roll of making four or five birdies in six, seven holes.

Q. Is putting the toughest part of handling that wind?

STUART APPLEBY: Yeah, it basically boils down to that. It's very difficult. Probably got one of the biggest heads on tour, so it's very difficult. Like holding a big kite up in the air when I'm standing over a ball.

Q. You know where you can't leave it on your approach shots.

STUART APPLEBY: I'd like to leave everything under the hole. It's not as easy to do. You've got pin four, five left. I'd like to think that I was good enough that I could start leaving everything under the hole on purpose. When I do leave it under the hole, I'm thankful. When I leave it above the hole, I'm thankful that I'm not too far away -- or hopeful I'm not too far away. Under the hole would be nice, but unfortunately under the hole means it's usually a slope going that way. If the pin is caught on the edge, you're trying to hit it hard right. The first hole is a good example. If you hit it under the hole on the first, you've almost made a mistake because you would have almost had to hit it way right.

It's tough, but you just got to try and somehow, if possible, get the putts as slow as you can.

Q. Could you have imagined when the tournament started on Thursday that 3-under would be leading?

STUART APPLEBY: No, not really. Well, I guess I didn't know how these greens would pan out. I knew how the putting green was. That's a lot different. I would have thought you'd have to be thinking 10-under par and a couple -- no problem, 10-under. With the greens, this extra wind, 10, 15 miles an hour, it's three to five shots right there.

Q. How much was the club difference on approach shots, maybe iron shots, from yesterday?

STUART APPLEBY: Yeah, the wind was a similar angle, and it was certainly stronger. I hit driver down 9. I didn't have the best lie. I didn't have maybe the best swing at it. I hit it pretty good. Got a little bit too much spin on it. I hit it like 150 yards, a 2-iron. Sometimes you just sort of are guessing how many clubs you think you need to add to the shot versus the yardage. Sometimes that's really what it is, it's about guessing the wind the right amount, then just hoping that you pull it off. That's really what it is, because it's not a science when it gets out there like that. Totally like the British Open is, just a lot of feel.

Q. Was it pretty consistent, the wind level?

STUART APPLEBY: At its normal gale force level, it was strong, then it got gusts. I was hitting a tee shot on 9, it was blowing that hard, you take the club back, it was downwind, you swing through, into the wind, it felt like someone had hold of the club on the downswing. It really does slow the club down on the downswing. That's when you know.

Then obviously standing over putts, the ball is sort of wobbly. Thank goodness all of mine were close to the hole, less than two feet. I didn't have anything precariously trying to move anywhere. I don't think they're rolling the greens tonight. I think they're going to do a cut on them and maybe just slow them up just a fraction. Probably gives them a little bit more pin position.

Q. I realize it's still just one shot at a time, but is the attitude or feeling any different than when the scores are 14-under and 13 and 12?

STUART APPLEBY: Basically, no.

Q. Doesn't feel like more of a grind?

STUART APPLEBY: It's more of a grind, yeah. There's going to be a round or maybe even more rounds where there's going to be more of a grind. You have to work harder to put your score on the card than other holes where you can just maybe get a run of birdies. There's no real run of birdies out there.

It will be harder, but your thought pattern should be the same.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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