Appleby Keeps His Swing Warm

Stuart Appleby went four years before returning to the winners-only Mercedes Championships. The way he played Thursday, he might not have to wait that long.

As the Kona winds fooled Tiger Woods and made it difficult on the elite field, Appleby recovered from a tough start to the new season with six birdies on the back nine for a seven-under-par 66 and a one-stroke lead over Darren Clarke.

Appleby, who attributed his four-year drought to low intensity, came on strong at the end of 2003 with two runner-up finishes and a victory in Las Vegas. The off-season was short, especially with the Presidents Cup, and he had no trouble getting his game into shape for the first tournament of the year.

“I’ve pretty much got a warm engine, a warm swing,” he said. “Just keep it going.”

Woods was running hot after watching his first round of the year fall apart on the par fives. He twice hit into hazards, turning simple birdies into a bogey and double bogey, then recovered on the final hole with an eagle from 20 feet to finish at two-under 71.

“Nothing went right,” Woods said. “I either hit great shots or horrific ones. It was not a relaxing round of golf. The positions I put myself in today were very stressful.”

He wasn’t alone in his misery.

Defending champion Ernie Els, who won with a record 31-under total last year, had to finish strong for a 73.

Vijay Singh, meanwhile, kept right on going.

Despite missing several birdie chances, Singh finished with a 68, tied with Scott Hoch, Justin Leonard and Kirk Triplett.

Clarke, who won the NEC Invitational for his second World Golf Championships title, looks like a new man. He has lost 30 pounds in a fitness program he began last fall, and even swore off cigarettes as his New Year’s resolution.

“My first competitive round without having any nicotine in my body,” Clarke said.

One thing everyone had in common was a tough opening hole. For such spectacular scenery, it was a rude welcome to the new season.

Appleby hit into the shoulder-high brush and had to take a penalty drop so far back that his only option was to hit wedge to where most players were landing their drives. He hit seven-iron to five feet for a bogey, saved par out of a bunker on the next hole, and it only got better.