Player Profile - Stuart Appleby

Last week, Stuart Appleby secured his place in the pantheon of golfing history by becoming the fifth person to shoot 59 on the US PGA Tour. He joins Al Geiberger, Chip Beck, David Duval and Paul Goydos as the only players to break sixty at golf’s highest level. Born in rural Victoria, Australia, Stuart was raised on a farm and practised his golf in the paddocks. Turning pro in 1992 at the age of twenty-one, the former Aussie Rules footballer plied his trade in his native country before moving to the US in 1995. He qualified to play on the Nike Tour (the Nationwide Tour’s predecessor) where he had two wins and finished fifth on the money list to graduate to the PGA Tour the following year. Victories in each year from 1997-1999 saw him firmly established on the tour, and he continued to hone his skills. His most successful period started in 2003 when he won the Las Vegas Invitational and went on to secure victory in the winners only season-opening Mercedes Championship in 2004. Stuart successfully defended that title until 2006 and also won the Shell Houston Open that year, his only multiple win season.

On his game, the athletically built Appleby can drive with all but the longest on tour, and is noted for the accuracy of his iron play. He has finished in the top ten in all four major championships. Also, he has been a member of five President’s Cup teams, the last time in 2007. However, since 2008, failure to maintain the form that brought eight PGA Tour victories has seen him slide down the world rankings, and fall outside the top 150 this year.

Shooting 59 in the final round to win the Greenbrier Classic perhaps signals that this determined and likeable 39-year-old Aussie will join the ranks of those rare golfers, such as Vijay Singh and Kenny Perry, whose most prolific years come after the age of forty.