Early Look at Next Bright Stars of Golf

Throughout its 20 years in Washington, the final round of the Kemper Open has consistently caused consternation among casual golf fans. As the winner walks off the last green, the common comment is: What’s going on here? Then, in very short order, we find out.

If somebody mentions Stuart Appleby at the water cooler Monday morning, play it cool. Don’t say, “Is that the young Aussie who won at Avenel by a shot?” Say confidently, “Just watch. He’ll be great. May even win the U.S. Open, British Open or PGA Championship this summer.”

Last year, when Justin Leonard won the Kemper, it was his second victory on the PGA Tour. Promising, yes. But the Next Great Young American Player? Who’d have thought it. Now, he’s won the British Open, the Players and is mentioned not far behind Tiger Woods.

Two years ago, virtually unknown Steve Stricker used his Kemper win as a springboard to the No. 4 spot on the money list. The year before that, Lee Janzen went on from his Avenel victory to his best year -- No. 3 on the money list.

It’s been like that for two decades, whether the Kemper was at the TPC at Avenel or Congressional Country Club. “Who’s the round guy with the mustache?” was the wisecrack when Craig Stadler won the ’81 Kemper for only his third PGA Tour title.

The next year, he won the Masters and became “The Walrus.”

“Who’s the kid with the goofy wife” we asked when Fred Couples, 23 and winless on the tour, was greeted by his airborne bride after his five-way playoff win in 1982. Within a year, Freddie was top 20 and never looked back.

Greg Norman, nearly 30 years old and winless in America, started his late rush to superstardom with a victory at the Kemper in ’84. In two years, the “Great White Shark” was the tour’s top money winner.

You’d think that every pro would want to be here every year. Some events are a curse; the Kemper is a good luck charm.

“A win like this can be a kick start,” said the 27-year-old Appleby after his 72-274 work edged Scott Hoch for the $360,000 first prize. “Justin used it that way. His win here started his whole year.

“Hope this starts me for 20 years.”

All wins inspire young players and boost their confidence. But Appleby might be an extreme case. First, he’s extremely talented. He’s tall, long-hitting, handsome and has a picture swing that helped him finish 18th on the money list last year with more than a million dollars in his second pro season. Second, Appleby’s victory Sunday included three of the grittiest, best-played finishing holes you’ll ever see.

“You can’t practice competitive stress. The real thing is very hard to get,” Appleby said. “In golf, you take baby steps to reach your peak in your thirties.” The reason, Appleby explained, is golfers -- even top young players -- have few chances to perform under the gun in any one season. So, the learning process usually takes longer.

Over the last mile at Avenel, Appleby faced the kind of “competitive stress” that prepares you for major championships. At the 15th, he thought he’d hit a perfect 6-iron shot. Instead, the ball airmailed the green so badly that Appleby had to scramble just to save an ugly bogey from the deep hay.

“I couldn’t even tell my caddie what happened. I wish I knew,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it. Maybe the ball hit a gap in the wind. It was one of those freaks of golf.”

When the gods play with your mind, you’re supposed to shake in your shoes. Especially when a Hoch birdie at the 18th suddenly trims what was once a four-shot lead to one. But Appleby was a rock.

Playing in stiff winds and a light drizzle, Appleby needed to finish par-par-par to beat Hoch. The 6-foot-1 blond from Cohuna, Australia, not only made pars, he made perfect pars that felt like birdies. He played the 415-yard 16th hole right down the watering system for a two-putt par. At the 17th, he rifled a dead-solid-perfect 7-iron to within five feet. Didn’t he notice that the frightening 195-yarder had just dealt Sandy Lyle an eight with two balls in the lake?

On the 18th hole, playing straight into the wind, he blasted a driver off the tee, but it only went 230 yards. Appleby faced a 214-yard sidehill, downhill 3-iron shot into a raw cross wind to a tight pin behind a deep trap. “I couldn’t see the green,” he said. “I had to aim at a tent.”

Luckily, Appleby likes it tough. He was an Australian rules football player, loves auto racing and grew up doing hard labor on a dairy farm.

Appleby decided he had to factor in the wind, account for the tilted lie, worry about the level of his adrenaline and make sure his grips and glove weren’t wet. And, oh yes, dead-flat kill a long-iron right on the sweet spot with the tournament on the line.

“So many factors,” he said. “I don’t know how often I could hit that shot again. ... But I hit it sweet.”

“He just beat my butt and everybody else,” said Hoch, the only player within three shots of Appleby. “As they say, his future’s ahead of him.”

If the Kemper’s past tells us anything about that Appleby future, it will be long and bright.