Stuart Appleby (born 1 May 1971) is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour.

Early life Appleby was born on 1 May 1971, in Cohuna, Victoria, and grew up on a nearby dairy farm. He began in golf by hitting balls from paddock to paddock after his farm chores were completed. As a youth, he played Australian rules football.

Professional career

Appleby turned professional in 1992 and began his career on the PGA Tour of Australasia. In 1995 he won twice on the Nike Tour (now known as the Web.com Tour), the second tier men's tour in the U.S. He was the eighth player to win his first Web.com Tour start. He qualified to compete on the PGA Tour the following year by finishing the season fifth on the money list.

Appleby has won nine times on the PGA Tour. He was a member of the International Team in the Presidents Cup five times, and featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking in 2004. His best performance in a major championship came in 2002, where he lost in a four-way playoff to Ernie Els at The Open Championship.

In 2010, during the final round of the inaugural Greenbrier Classic, Appleby became the fifth player in history to shoot a 59 in an official PGA Tour event, and won the PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year award. Appleby was limited to seven starts before back surgery in March 2015. He made a start on the Web.com Tour for the first time in twenty years at the Nova Scotia Open, where he finished T36. Qualified for a medical extension, Appleby was allowed entry into the Web.com Tour Finals, but did not make a cut and played the 2016 season on a major medical extension. He burned through his medical extension and finished 143rd in the FedEx Cup. He tried to regain his Tour card through the Web.com Finals, but did not finish high enough when Hurricane Matthew threatened Florida and the final tournament was cancelled, leaving the top 25 players with their cards, and Appleby finished 31st, leaving him with limited status for the 2017 season. He finished 192nd in the FedEx Cup, limiting him to the Past Champions category for 2018.

Personal life Appleby's first wife Renay was struck and killed by a taxicab outside London Waterloo station in 1998, shortly after he had missed the cut at The Open Championship.

Appleby married his second wife, Ashley Saleet, in 2002, and they live with their four children in Orlando, Florida. After the 1999 plane crash that killed his friend and next-door neighbour Payne Stewart, he has been one of the key father figures for Stewart's children, Chelsea and Aaron. In his spare time, Appleby enjoys motor racing. He is the ambassador for Golf Australia's Crown Lager Social Golf Club and patron for Stuart Appleby Junior Golf.

Professional wins (20) PGA Tour wins (9) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1 16 Mar 1997Honda Classic 68-68-67-71=274−141 stroke Michael Bradley, Payne Stewart27 Jun 1998Kemper Open70-63-69-72=274−101 stroke Scott Hoch32 May 1999Shell Houston Open70-68-70-71=279−91 stroke John Cook, Hal Sutton412 Oct 2003Las Vegas Invitational62-68-63-66-69=328−31Playoff Scott McCarron511 Jan 2004Mercedes Championships 66-67-66-71=270−221 stroke Vijay Singh69 Jan 2005Mercedes Championships (2)74-64-66-67=271−211 stroke Jonathan Kaye78 Jan 2006Mercedes Championships (3)71-72-70-71=284−8Playoff Vijay Singh823 Apr 2006Shell Houston Open (2)66-67-69-67=269−196 strokes Bob Estes91 Aug 2010Greenbrier Classic66-68-65-59=258−221 stroke Jeff Overton

PGA Tour playoff record (2–1) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12002The Open Championship Steve Elkington, Ernie Els, Thomas LevetEls won with par on first extra hole after four-hole aggregate playoff;Els: E (4-3-5-4=16),Levet: E (4-2-5-5=16),Appleby: +1 (4-3-5-5=17),Elkington: +1 (5-3-4-5=17)22003Las Vegas Invitational Scott McCarronWon with birdie on first extra hole32006Mercedes Championships Vijay SinghWon with birdie on first extra hole

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (3) Legend Flagship events (1) Other PGA Tour of Australasia (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up120 Dec 1998Schweppes Coolum Classic68-67-67-69=271−174 strokes Craig Spence225 Nov 2001(2002 season)Holden Australian Open69-70-67-65=271−173 strokes Scott Laycock314 Nov 2010JBWere Masters71-69-69-65=274−101 stroke Adam Bland

Nike Tour wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up119 Mar 1995Nike Monterrey Open68-70-67-68=273−15Playoff Rafael Alarcón21 Oct 1995Nike Sonoma County Open69-69-65-66=269−194 strokes Bobby Collins, Joe Durant, Jerry Kelly

Nike Tour playoff record (1–1) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11995Nike Monterrey Open Rafael AlarcónWon with birdie on seventh extra hole21995Nike Ozarks Open P. H. Horgan III, Mike SchuchartSchuchart won with birdie on second extra hole

Australasian Foundation Tour wins (5) 1991 Queensland Open (as an amateur) 1994 Victorian PGA Championship, Tasmanian Classic, South Australian PGA Championship, Nedlands Masters

Other wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunners-up13 Aug 1999CVS Charity Classic(with Jeff Sluman)63-59=122−202 strokes Brett Quigley and Dana Quigley

Results in major championships ! Tournament 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011Masters Tournament T21 CUT CUT CUT T31 CUT CUT T22 T43 T19 T7 T14 T30 CUTU.S. Open T36 T10 CUT CUT CUT T37 CUT CUT CUT CUT T26 T36 CUT T29 The Open Championship T20 CUT CUT T11 61 T2 T15 T36 T41 CUT CUT T51 T65 PGA Championship T61 CUT CUT T4 T16 T17 T23 T17 T15 T55 T12 T15 CUT T68

CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied

Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 5 14 8 U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 1 1 14 6 The Open Championship 0 1 0 1 1 4 13 9 PGA Championship 0 0 0 1 1 8 14 11 Totals 0 1 0 2 4 18 55 34 Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2007 PGA – 2009 Masters) Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (four times)

Results in The Players Championship Tournament199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014The Players ChampionshipT14CUTCUTT22T33T28T21CUTCUTCUTT16T15CUTCUTT77

CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships Tournament1999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011Match PlayR64R64R16R64R64R32R32R64R64R16R64ChampionshipT30T25NT1T11T2T16T11T6T35T34T61InvitationalT23T20T5T42T46T9T13T71T14T2T51T6376ChampionsT69T42 1Cancelled due to 9/11

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = Tied NT = No tournament Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Note: Appleby is the only golfer to compete in the first 32 WGC events.

Team appearances Amateur Sloan Morpeth Trophy (representing Australia): 1992 Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches (representing Victoria): 1991, 1992

Professional World Cup (representing Australia): 1996, 2003, 2009 Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Australia): 1997, 1998 Presidents Cup (International Team): 1998 (winners), 2000, 2003 (tie), 2005, 2007

See also 1995 Nike Tour graduates 1996 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates Lowest rounds of golf

References

External links