Some Joy Follows Pain for Appleby

One morning last July, Stuart Appleby and his wife, Renay, got out of a cab at a train station in London, where they were spending a few days of vacation. Renay was standing behind the cab when another car struck and killed her as Appleby looked on helplessly.

There were days when Appleby wondered if he could go on, whether he ought to quit golf and head back to Australia. But Appleby stuck it out, mainly because he knew that Renay would have wanted him to.

So when Appleby won the Shell Houston Open last Sunday, it made sense that the person he said deserved the most credit was Renay.

“It’s hard to say if she was with me,” Appleby said. “She gave me the strength. I just felt strong.

“There was no emotional high, like, ‘God, I’m going to win this now.’ It was already there. And she’s going to be with me forever in anything I do. And she’ll be there to help, nothing but that.”

Appleby, who turned 28 on Saturday, has been considered a rising star on the PGA Tour since he graduated from qualifying school in 1996. His victory in Houston was Appleby’s third in three years, but his first since his wife’s death.

Appleby, a former Australian rules football player who grew up on a dairy farm in Cohuna, Australia, hitting golf balls from paddock to paddock after his chores were done, had met Renay back home. They were inseparable as Appleby worked his way from the Nike Tour to the PGA Tour, with Renay as his caddie.

After Renay’s death, Appleby played as much golf as he thought he was capable of, but he had trouble concentrating. He knew that hard work would eventually pay off. He just didn’t know it would happen Sunday in Houston.

“I had to try to be Renay, try and talk to myself about what I had to do to win. And she knew what it was and I knew what it was. The answer was: Get your act together, try and stay positive on the course, believe in yourself, believe that practice is going to work.

“It’s very hard to do when you lose someone you love so much, but you’ve got to turn it around. Time goes on. And you have to make sure that if anything happens in your life for good or for bad, that you find out that in the end it was . . . everything was for the good.”

HEALTH NEWS

It isn’t all that great for Steve Elkington, who pulled out of the Houston event complaining of severe headaches and was diagnosed with viral meningitis.

It’s the second time in two years that the 36-year-old Australian has contracted viral meningitis.

“It’s not life-threatening, but he is in a lot of pain,” said Brian Peters of IMG, which represents Elkington. “We expect him back on tour in a few weeks.”

FUN WITH STATISTICS

For what it’s worth, the May issue of Men’s Journal lists its best players to watch at certain elements of the game--such as Tiger Woods on the tee because, according to Men’s Journal, “He flat-out hits the ball farther than anyone else . . . and he usually keeps it in play.”

Actually, Woods flat-out doesn’t. He’s No. 2 in driving distance, 17.8 yards per drive behind No. 1 John Daly. And Woods is No. 46 in driving accuracy percentage.

David Duval is Men’s Journal’s choice in the fairway because “Nobody on the tour hits the ball dead-straight on a regular basis.” Presumably, Duval comes the closest. However, he doesn’t. Duval is tied for No. 43 in driving accuracy.

As for the “In Trouble” category, the magazine’s choices are Seve Ballesteros and Tom Watson. No argument about Ballesteros, who’s in trouble more often than a truant. But Watson? The only time he ever had any problems, besides having to fill out all those deposit slips for the piles of money he has won, was any time he stood over a four-foot putt.

TIGER UPDATE

After taking three weeks off, Woods is getting busy.

There will be announcement Monday that Woods and Duval will play in the first PGA Tour head-to-head match televised live in prime time on the East Coast. The event will be played the first weekend in August, probably in Las Vegas and on ABC.

Woods will also announce an invitational tournament picking the top players from the world ranking to be played in Las Vegas over New Year’s weekend, with $1 million going to the winner.

Woods wrapped up his new Nike commercial Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., then made plans to play in the GTE Byron Nelson next week, followed by the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open in Heidleberg, Germany.

After that, Woods is tentatively scheduled to play the Memorial as his warmup for the U.S. Open, June 17-20 at Pinehurst, N.C.

WHEN IT RAINS

So how ugly was it at last week’s LPGA event at Murrels Inlet, S.C.? Well, the other winner besides Rachel Hetherington was the mud.

Because of rainstorms, the City of Hope Myrtle Beach Classic was limited to 36 holes--the first time that has happened to an LPGA tournament in 18 years.

Smart move: Kris Monaghan shot a 77 on Thursday, it rained Friday and Saturday and then she didn’t show up for her 8:20 a.m. tee time Sunday.

Dumb move: Somebody on the fitness trail picked up Juli Inkster’s ball that she hit over the green on the par-three fourth hole and tried to throw it back onto the green. Spectators told the fan to drop the ball where it was.

MILLER BARBER: IRONMAN

Can anyone blow out 500 candles? Is there a cake that big, anyway?

Last week at the Bruno’s Memorial Classic in Hoover, Ala., Miller Barber played in his 500th Senior PGA Tour event.

It is a feat that should not pass unnoticed. No one has played as many as the 68-year-old Barber, who obviously doesn’t think all that much of Sherman, Texas, or he’d be spending just a little more time at home.

Some Barber trivia:

* He tied for 26th and won $78 in his first PGA Tour event--the 1959 El Paso Open.

* He won 11 times in 11 different years on the PGA Tour.

* He played 612 PGA Tour events between 1959 and 1990 and won about $1.56 million.

* He has made nearly $3.9 million since 1981 in his 500 senior tour events.

BARRY CHEESMAN: IRONMAN

And on the 16th week, he rested. Barry Cheesman sure could use the rest, since he already has played 15 PGA Tour events--every one for which he was eligible--so far this year.

Cheesman, 39, who earned his tour card by finishing No. 6 on the 1998 Nike Tour money list, has made $178,534 in 15 weeks this year, No. 89 on the money list, and might be feeling sort of comfortable (not to mention tired).

That’s probably why he is sitting out this week’s Compaq Classic in New Orleans. The top 125 on the money list at the end of the year earn their PGA Tour cards for 2000.

STAN WOOD

Former USC golf coach Stan Wood, who died Monday at 79 while playing golf at Las Robles in Thousand Oaks, is regarded as one of the founding fathers of collegiate golf.

Along with Carl Tucker of Brigham Young and Jess Haddock of Wake Forest, Wood influenced the creation of the Golf Coaches’ Assn. of America.

Wood coached at USC from 1955 to ’80 and his pupils included Craig Stadler, Scott Simpson, Al Geiberger and Dave Stockton. He took his USC teams to the NCAA 22 times in 25 years, but an NCAA title always eluded him.

QUICK, CALL H.R.

Dilbert isn’t just for the comic strips (or television) any more. He’s on the golf course. The perennially perturbed office worker has escaped his cubicle--along with his twin tormentors Pointy-Haired Boss and Dogbert--and is now available as a club head cover.

SHOPPING EARLY

Is it too early to be thinking about 2007? Apparently not. The PGA of America is considering holding its 2007 PGA Championship at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc.

BIRDIES, BOGEYS, PARS

Bruno’s Inc. signed a two-year extension as the title sponsor of the Senior PGA Tour event in Hoover, Ala. The Birmingham-based grocery store chain has sponsored the tournament since it began eight years ago--even though it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization 15 months ago.

Volunteers are needed for the $225,000 Nike Inland Empire Open, Sept. 27-Oct. 3 at the Moreno Valley Ranch Golf Club. Details: (909) 784-GOLF. More than $81,000 was raised for charities at the 1998 event with beneficiaries including Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital; the Children’s Fund; Special Olympics; Boys & Girls Club of Redlands, Fontana and Temecula; Assistance League of San Bernardino and Loma Linda Ronald McDonald House.

Nearly 700 are expected to try to qualify next week for the 88th California Amateur, which will be played June 21-26 at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. Monday qualifying will be at the SCGA Members’ Club, Tuesday is at Los Coyotes, Rio Bravo, the SCGA Members’ Club and Brookside, and Wednesday is at Desert Dunes and Warner Springs. Details: (818) 980-1808.

Pacific 10 Conference coaches voted Joel Kribel of Stanford as the golfer of the year. Bryan Schlagenhauf of UCLA was voted to the All-Pac-10 first team. Kribel is the No. 2- ranked college golfer in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. His 70.39 scoring average is on track to be Stanford’s best, ahead of Woods’ 70.90 in 1996.

A celebrity tournament to benefit the Irvine Adult Day Health Center will be held Wednesday at Strawberry Farms. Details: (760) 632-7770.

Steve Garvey, Mike Connors, Robert Stack, John O’Hurley, Luc Robitaille, Al Michaels, Ann Meyers Drysdale, Mac Davis, Chris McCarron and Dwight Stones are among the celebrities scheduled to play in the Tom Sullivan Blind Childrens Center tournament May 17 at Riviera Country Club. Details: (323) 664-2153.

Ocean Trails Golf Club in Palos Verdes, a new daily fee golf course designed by Pete Dye, is taking tee times. The par-72, 6,833-yard layout officially opens July 16. Details: (310) 265-5525.