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RENO-TAHOE OPENAugust 2, 2013Stuart ApplebyRENO, NEVADA THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us after a successful seven points in your first round. Gets you to 19 through 36 holes here at the Reno‑Tahoe Open. You've played well here both in the modified Stableford format, top 20s in your previous two starts, start playing modified. That being said, just some comments on through 36 holes here this week. STUART APPLEBY: We certainly had tricky conditions yesterday that had the wind changing a bit which made it difficult to get the right club in your hand. Today, the wind was really nonexistent to very mild. So much more favorable conditions for making points. You can see why the low numbers, the plus numbers today, quite a few guys in the teens and better. I wasn't able to get that momentum going, but the course is in fantastic shape. Should be lots of points on the weekend. Q. I followed you your first nine holes this morning. Seemed like nobody was able to make any putts. Some pretty good opportunities, pretty good looks, but nothing seemed to be dropping. STUART APPLEBY: The greens are in great shape this morning. So you couldn't complain on the roll‑ability of them. But there's enough subtle little mountain breaks that one day you sort of seem to see them or seem to start on the roll, on the next day it's a bit harder. They've definitely got some nuances in them that make it tricky. And if you started not making many, it seems to be like you second‑guess: Am I seeing too much or not enough break and is the mountain pushing it more than the last hole. So you really have got to be committed. That's whatever level playing you're playing at. But it's definitely tricky when you have a massive contour coming off a mountain that sometimes shows up more than other holes. The afternoon guys, the greens might be probably as smooth; but, again, there were scores to be had morning and afternoon yesterday. Gary Woodland was out earlier and Greg Chalmers did well early. Josh Teater had a great finish late in the day. I had a decent finish. I think you can see points coming from anywhere in this tournament. Q. Second time here, how do you like this course? STUART APPLEBY: I do like it. It's very pretty. I would certainly love to be playing over in Akron this week. I've got a house 20 minutes from there, but if this is a consolation prize, it feels like a winning place to be. It's just one of the prettiest places you could be. The event staff, the volunteers obviously fantastic. The course is in great condition. We've got an interesting format. So something really nice to play this time of year. Q. Would you like to see another Stableford on the TOUR? STUART APPLEBY: I don't know if we really‑‑ I think it has to be the right place and the right time. I just don't think you do it because you can copy it. It works here. The course is yielding enough, birdies where you can get ten points a day or more. Certainly I think it might have been handy at the U.S. Open. I think guys would have been happy to pick their balls up a few times, just move to the next hole. Quite a few swaps I imagine at that tournament. But could you do it again, yeah, just not sure when. I think opposite event works pretty well. Q. You came in at 124, I think, on the FedExCup. Do you feel where you're at right now you're good for next year? STUART APPLEBY: I don't want to think like that. And I don't believe that to be the case. That would be a terrible mistake to make. No, I'm not thinking like that. I really want to make inroads this week. And Greensboro being my final event, really‑‑ no, the answer to your question is no. Q. And then this is probably a long shot, but do you think at all about Presidents Cup? If you should win this week, do you get into the PGA, have a good week? STUART APPLEBY: You could have a 50caliber. That's a long shot that nobody could make. I don't know about that. I mean, I could have a massive run through the playoffs, I don't know. If anyone like me or want to say like me, someone who was well and truly out of the Presidents Cup had a run, a really strong run coming in, I think that would get the captain's potential attention. Even if he was five or ten places away from the automatic pick, I think you'd have to do something like that. And I mean again I live in Ohio in the summer so it would be nice, it's sort of a home game. But I really have not set my sights on it. Q. I think 2010 was your last win, the last two or three years have been right around that 125, 140 range. Is there something specific about the game that just hasn't been up to your standards? STUART APPLEBY: Well, probably I started really to struggle mentally about believing my game, believing in what I've achieved, the things I've done on TOUR. Just getting some really bad mental habits. I had an injury in my back that was really sort of started the downward spiral from performances that I was more accustomed to. My putting started to go downhill, so it was a bit of deck of cards and it took a while for it to degrade and it's taken a long time to try and work it back. I think emotionally I probably took the biggest beating versus physical once I got over my back improving. Q. You've been around. You've seen it all, kind of, ends of the TOUR successes and not so much. Is it the same game? Does it feel like the same game out here? What are the differences when you're at the very highest level and then not so much? STUART APPLEBY: I think the game does change through your career from being a young player on tour, you say first five years of your career trying to establish routines and scheduling and what the courses play like, seeing them repeatedly, to the middle part of your career where you establish yourself getting some wins under your belt still learning. You look at my career, now you say you're on the back nine. You really are trying to assess what you need to improve, what was and what would you grab from the past that you would take into a time of your career where you're more experienced. It goes very, very quickly. A guy like Bud Cauley out this week. And Bud's obviously trying to get his way into playing next year. And one day he's going to do an interview in the latter part of his career and he's going to be like me and he's going to go: I don't know what happened to the last 15, 20 years. He's in the very start of his career as many of the players are that come out from the Web TOUR or from Q‑School. You've really gotta really work, grab and nurture the values that have made you a good player or made you win, all through your career. I honestly think the best players with the longevity have always had the knowledge that or the belief that there's always a lot to learn from the game. And I think that's absolutely the case. Even though I've played the game now for 20 years at a high level, there's still a lot I have to learn or maybe relearn. Q. Are you on a past champions exemption? STUART APPLEBY: I'm on a career money list exemption, my final one of the two. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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