IN AN all-encompassing interview Inside Golf’s US correspondent Garrett Johnston spoke to Australia’s Stuart Appleby at a recent Champions Tour event. The pair covered a variety of topics, including the current health of Appleby’s game, his goals and aspirations for his golfing future, before delving into his thoughts on the possibility of a golf ball rollback. The winner of nine PGA Tour events, including three consecutive Tournament of Champions victories in succession at Kapalua in Hawaii, the Australian Open and Masters, while he was also a runner up at the Open Championship when beaten in a four-man playoff by Ernie Els. Also one of a select group to have shot 59 in an official PGA Tour event, achieved at the Greenbrier Classic in 2010, Appleby certainly enjoyed a stellar career. And it’s not quite finished yet.
Next month’s edition of Inside Golf will feature part two, as he reminisces and recounts some of his biggest golfing moments, but for now, see below, part one, Stuart Appleby Q and A.
Stuart, you’re 52 and just completed your second full year on the PGA Tour Champions. How are you enjoying it so far?
It’s been good. I think Pebble Beach was my first tournament out here (September 2001). I spent a lot of time injured, so I played a few in 2021. I remember playing in 2022, that flew by so quickly. I’m just amazed by the quality of golf out here that you’ve got to play to get to win golf tournaments. I remember 20 years ago I laughed at the idea of playing on the PGA Tour Champions. Monty felt the same way. But look at Bernhard Langer. At 66 years old he just has an itch that he can’t scratch, you just see him out there all the time practicing on the range and on the course during practice rounds, and he’s always checking green slopes and figuring where not to hit his second shots. I think to myself, ‘wouldn’t he want to just give that all to his caddie? He’s played every course for 15 years straight now.’ But nope, he’s out there dotting every i and crossing every t. I guess that’s what true champions do is not let anything to chance.
What do you want to accomplish on the PGA Tour Champions?
I’ve definitely got more physical issues than I had when I was younger. I just want my body to be able to allow me to get the swing going in the proper directions. The guys out here are so good. Steve Stricker had an unbelievable year and he’s a tough competitor to play against. Steven Alker is another tough guy to take on. There’s no way he’s making a double bogey anywhere. Stephen Ames is the same way. They limit the big numbers. I just want to limit the big numbers out there. My chipping and putting and overall scrambling is good, but I just need to hit more greens. That’s always been my MO, a solid chipper and putter. Out here in three rounds I’ve just got to put together three really good ball-striking rounds. I feel like hand-eye coordination is my only talent with ball-striking and that’s just not going to get it done, so I’ve got to find ways in the offseason to get my body in a better position to deliver the clubface.
You’ve often talked about wanting to bring down the age on the older Tour from 50 to 45. What is your thought on that now that you’ve been out here?
My proposal was to bring that down, but not for fifteen years. Let’s look at the gap between a Rickie Fowler and other guys who are 25 to 35. How many Bernhard Langer’s are out there among them? Who among those younger guys is going to have that much desire to come out and play. The players hit the ball harder now more than ever, so you wonder how that’s going to take its toll on the body. No one out here wants to lower the age of 50, they want to keep it right where it is.
The average age on Tour is way younger than when I was out there. Guys are winning at 20 and 21 with Tom Kim, whereas you weren’t getting your ground under you until you were maybe late 20s or early 30s in my day. It’s just wild to me. But we might get some idea if I was right about lowering the age in the next 10 or 15 years.
There’s a lot of talk about the golf ball rollback and technology always has a big influence on the game. Where are you at with those topics?
Technology has been advancing amazingly, at the same time, a lot of these players have physical therapists. These kids have really learned to compress the ball. My kid is 15 and he can hit it 280 yards. He’s just lean, tall, powerful kids like that didn’t seem to be around when I was a kid. The game has definitely changed. You hear about the golf rollback, well I’ll tell you that none of us out here want any rollback. It’s amazing how much it’s changed since the balata days. I remember my first win came with a ball that had more stability in the wind than balata balls. And that was a big deal at the time, and now we’re just used to that.
I was talking with fellow pro Olin Browne recently about imagining hitting a golf ball with a persimmon headed club today in our 50s, 60s in cold conditions. If you don’t hit those things in the middle, it’s just ugly (laughs). It’s the worst game in the world. So, we’re kind of lucky now with the technology.
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