Stuart Appleby Swing Vision Video Analysis

There is no hiding my admiration for this guy. I think he is a great guy who happens to be a decent golfer as well. I thought it was appropriate to post Stuart's swing vision analysis for my readers today on the morning of the Mercedes-Benz Championship because he has won the tournament 3 times. Why this early season form has never really followed him around has surprised me, but when it all comes together it is great to watch.

As for the swing vision itself it is one of the cleanest swings I have seen and even though the video is short I have picked up something to try at the range this week. Enjoy.

2008 PGA Tour is here - how excited are you?

It is time again. Really early tomorrow morning (my time) the PGA tour starts again and I must admit I am more excited this year than any other, possibly because it is will be my first full season as a golf blogger. The Mercedes-Benz Championship is one of my favorite tournaments too probably because Aussie Stuart Appleby has always done very well for himself at Kapalua and I have a real admiration for the guy.

You can read his amazing story in my post hope and love in golf? which I wrote earlier this year.

As for my tip for the tournament I have noticed many of the experts tipping Vijay Singh as their tip, but I happen to think that Jim Furyk will have a very good tournament. Whatever happens though I am going to enjoy it!

Golf News: On course bars and the storm in a beer cup

Two weeks ago Robert Allenby threatened not to play in his native country again after being heckled by three drunken fans during the Australian Masters.

His comments since would hardly have helped matters.

Stuart Appleby reckons his Victorian counterpart Robert Allenby would have been better off keeping his mouth shut about the galleries at this week's $1.75 million Australian Open.

Allenby all-but guaranteed he would be heckled at The Australian course in Sydney, saying he has his earplugs ready for the 11th hole, which will come complete with its own bar.

Not all players would have made a similar stance. Appleby, for one, would have kept his mouth firmly closed.

"There's a lot of players out there, I'm not sure if the public's trying to target Robert," Appleby said.

"It sounds like Robert's saying they will, which only heightens it.

"You drop a piece of meat on the ground, you don't have to yell out 'piece of meat' to the flies, they work out where it is pretty quick.

"If he's yelling out 'they're going to be all over me', well guess what they'll be? All over him.

"I would've kept quiet."

To Appleby, the whole matter is a storm in a beer cup.

Read the complete golf news story

Your Say

Drunken Fans - Genuine concern or storm in a beer cup? (leave a comment)

Australian PGA preview

The hottest field in golf this summer is ready to set the course alight in Coolum with Stuart Appleby, Richard Green, John Senden, Peter Lonard, Brett Rumford, Mark Hensby, Nathan Green and Stephen Leaney all confirming their entry in the $1.4 million Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship.

The cream of Australian golfing talent will join world top ten players Adam Scott and South African Rory Sabbatini in December to compete for one of this country’s most sought after trophies, the Joe Kirkwood Cup.

“Australian golfers are amongst the best in the world and to have so many of our top players returning home to support our event is fantastic,” said Max Garske, the PGA’s CEO. “We’ve got an incredible contingent of Australian players entered, as well as two of the world’s top ten players so it’s no doubt going to be the tournament to watch over the summer.”

Leading the charge will be Stuart Appleby. His results this year include a second to fellow Aussie Adam Scott at the Shell Houston Open in April and as one of Australian’s most successful golf exports he will be chasing his maiden Australian PGA Championship victory...

Read the complete golf news story

My tip
I think that an Aussie will win (I know that is not really much of a tip) and my gut says that it will be a slight outsider like Richard Green or Peter Lonard. However I would put money on Rory Sabbatini being close to the lead on the final day.

Tell me what you think - leave a comment

Hope and love - in golf?

It has been said that golf has caused many marriage and relationship break ups. The joke often told amongst golfers certainly shows that golf sometimes takes over our lives a little too much:

On a nice Saturday morning this summer I'm having a game with a man, 25 years old. Getting ready to putt on the second hole, we see that a woman is madly running towards us in a wedding gown. The young man with me looks at her and calmly says:" I told you: only if it rains!"

Seriously though there has been some sad marriage break ups for golf professionals. Colin Montgomerie believed he played better after his divorce, Nick Faldo has had his break-ups plasted all over the media and we all know about the recent John Daily Saga. For us mere mortals (in a golf sense) there is help available when we go through a nasty break up and whether golf was the cause or not counseling may help.

For every dear john letter and nasty divorce there is a story of hope and love. Stuart Appleby the gifted Australian golfer was on top of the world 1998, playing wonderful golf and was absolutely madly in love with his wife Renay White. From reports from friends and family the couple was one of those couples of which everyone else is jealous - perfect for each other. Tragically during a second honeymoon in London (they were about to visit Paris) Renay was killed by a car backing up as she waited with Stuart for a taxi.

Stuart Appleby, empty, came to the PGA Championship four days after last taking flowers to Renay's grave. He asked to do a press conference. He came to the dais a haunted man, unshaven, stricken, weeping and brave as hell. He called Renay "first prize of a raffle in life."

Hardly surprisingly, his life was totally transformed by Renay's untimely passing. Almost two years later, he was still struggling to come to terms with it.

"At it's worst, it's really, really tough," he said during a teleconference on the PGA Tour. "Somehow you manage, whether that's an inner strength or something else, I don't know. Other times you don't.

"Sometimes you say flat out: 'Listen, I can't do this. It's just too much for me right now', and you just don't. You take weeks off.

"It's at your own speed. There's no time frame except what is comfortable."

However, the story doesn't end there. He won the 2001 Australian Open and produced his best finish at a major the following year when he tied for second in the British Open.

In 2003, Appleby clinched the Las Vegas Invitational before ending the PGA Tour season 12th in the money list with earnings of $2,662,538.

Most significantly, though, he also found personal happiness and the highlight of that year was his marriage to Ashley. In 2004 he won the Mercedes Championship and after recovering from such a tragedy he was a most deserving winner. Exactly one year later as if Renay was watching from above he won the Mercedes Championship for the second time and he became a father for the first time to begin a new chapter of his life

Hope and love in golf - You bet!