Tour news: It's all a far cry from his time growing up in the Australian outback when he'd spend the evenings belting a golf ball from one paddock on the family farm to another.
It's all change, and Stuart Appleby's second win of the season on the US Tour - adding the Shell Houston Open to the season-opening Mercedes Championship - has raised his own expectation levels of where he wants to go with his career.
Once upon a time, back in the spring of 2004, Appleby was as high as eighth in the official world rankings. Once upon a time, he would pitch up at one of the season's four majors and have a contender's tag attached to him. However, until his wire-to-wire win in Houston, finishing off with a 67 for a 19-under total of 269, six shots clear of runner-up Bob Estes, Appleby had never managed multiple wins on the US Tour. He has changed that statistic, and would now like to change some others too. Like winning majors. Like getting back into the world's elite top 10.
"Winning twice on the Tour in a year is a good achievement for me. Other players are probably thinking four or five (wins) and other guys are thinking if they don't win six it's a bad year. I think winning once or twice proves to you that what you're doing works, and it can work more than once every blue moon," said Appleby, who moved up seven places to 25th in the latest world rankings.
Appleby, who ensured back-to-back wins on the US Tour for Australian golfers after Aaron Baddeley's win in the Heritage, securing the fifth Aussie win of the season on that circuit, will seek to continue his good form when playing in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at English Turn, starting on Thursday.
Padraig Harrington, who finished tied-32nd at Houston, and Graeme McDowell, who made his first stroke play cut of the season in finishing tied-54th, are among those competing in New Orleans.
"What I'm trying to do is get better at having a well-rounded game. I know that quality of golf is going to put me in contention more often, and that's really what it is about, being near contention or in contention . . . everyone is trying to build a swing that works under pressure," explained Appleby, who had spent the previous week working on his swing at home in Isleworth and arrived in Houston knowing that it was where he wanted it to be.
Adam Scott is the only Australian golfer currently in the world's top-10 and no Australian has won a major since Steve Elkington won the US PGA in 1995. Yet, Appleby's win - his second of the season, which has also seen Geoff Ogilvy, Rod Pampling and Aaron Baddeley win in the States - would indicate a general healthiness that isn't entirely reflected in the rankings.
"Winning at good events, or even making the cut, can plant a seed . . . This (win) got me out of a hole because this has moved me up a level. I need to play more like this, this type of golf. It's the next level on paper, but long-term I need to keep doing this stuff, keep moving, keep doing this.
"I think we always climb through those levels very slowly. Sometimes we don't even know we pass them. But I don't feel like winning twice has put me on another level."
From start to finish, Appleby claimed he stuck to the one gameplan. "I thought, well, it worked for two days, worked for one day, worked for second, third. You don't change the recipe, you just go and grab stuff and start mixing in the bowl. I think there was no time in the tournament where I felt like I had to have a change of game plan, where I had to be more aggressive or more defensive because I felt like I was in ultimate control of what I was doing and no one else was putting enough pressure on me to make me be more aggressive or more conservative . . . I think the way I played, if I played like that in the major, there's no doubt I can be a contender at the back."
In next year's revamped tournament schedule, the Houston Open will act as the curtain-raiser on the US Masters. Appleby said he would return to defend in Houston next year, even though the course bears no resemblance to Augusta National.
"It's not preparation for Augusta. The only thing that's preparing for Augusta is competition, and Augusta is a different level because it's one of the higher levels of competition . . . (but) if I play like this next year going into Augusta, I'll have the next event to gain the momentum and the vibe going on."
HOUSTON OPEN - Leading final scores: 269 - Stuart Appleby (Australia) 66 67 69 67; 275 - Bob Estes (US) 71 69 66 69; 276 - Steve Stricker (US) 72 70 68 66 277 - Mathias Groenberg (Sweden) 68 69 67 73; 278 - Jerry Smith (US) 67 70 69 72; 279 - Mike Weir (Canada) 71 71 70 67, J L Lewis (US) 71 69 68 71, Brett Wetterich (US) 70 69 69 71, Richard Johnson (Sweden) 72 69 67 71, KJ Choi (South Korea) 71 69 67 72; 280 - Hunter Mahan (US) 69 72 69 70, Nick Watney (US) 71 69 69 71, Rich Beem (US) 73 69 67 71, Paul Goydos (US) 69 71 68 72, Trevor Immelman (South Africa) 69 67 71 73. Irish placings: 284 - Padraig Harrington 71 73 69 71; 288 - Graeme McDowell 72 72 69 75.
