HUMBLE, Texas -- Stuart Appleby made it look easy in the
Shell Houston Open.
Appleby shot a 5-under 67 on Sunday to cap a wire-to-wire
victory and join Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as the only
two-time winners on the PGA Tour this year.
Appleby, also the 1999 winner in Houston, finished at 19-under
269 on the new Tournament Course at Redstone, six shots ahead of
Bob Estes. Appleby matched the tournament record for margin of
victory and was the first player in the event's 60-year history to
lead from the opening round to the end.
The victory margin was also a personal best in eight career wins
for Appleby. He won twice in playoffs and the other five by one
shot.
"To have a comfortable victory has never left my lips," said
Appleby, who won in 1999 by one stroke over John Cook and Hal
Sutton. "It was nice to know, coming down the last part of the day
that things were in hand."
Like a pinch to make sure he wasn't dreaming, Appleby asked
caddie Joe Damiano where he stood with two holes left.
"I knew where I was," Appleby said, "I just wanted to hear it
from his lips."
Appleby, who turns 35 on May 1, earned $990,000 and has two
victories in the same year for the first time in his career. In
January, Appleby won the season-opening Mercedes Championships for
the third straight time.
Lately, Appleby was growing increasingly frustrated that he
couldn't win anywhere but Kapalua.
"There needed be another dose of that throughout the years and
there hadn't been," Appleby said. "Winning now, twice, puts that
emotional feeling at a higher level. Once is nice, twice certainly
shows and proves to you that what you're doing works."
Estes closed with a 69 to finish second, and Steve Stricker was
12 under after a 66. Mathias Gronberg, paired with Appleby on
Sunday, had a 73 to match Jerry Smith (72) at 10 under.
None of them ever threatened Appleby, who won for the fourth
time in five tournaments when holding the 54-hole lead. His one
blemish came in 2004, when he closed with a 76 at Bay Hill and lost
to Chad Campbell.
Appleby never wavered this time.
He moved to 15 under on the first hole, curling in a 20-footer
that danced halfway around the lip before falling. Gronberg, 5 feet
closer, left his birdie putt short.
Appleby extended his lead with birdies on Nos. 4 and 6. Before
another birdie at No. 8, Appleby was careful to follow the rules.
He hit his approach into a greenside bunker and found a bug
crawling on his ball. He tried to shoo it away, but never touched
it. Once the bug disappeared under the sand, Appleby blasted out to
10 feet and sank the putt.
Typical of Gronberg's day, his eagle chip from behind the par-5
eighth lipped out and he gained no ground. Gronberg then
three-putted the ninth, while Appleby made a par to lead by four at
the turn.
As relaxed as he looked all week, Appleby said he was still
churning inside.
"You always feel pressure," he said. "As the week goes on,
the pressure mounts. You've got too bleed it off and keep it at the
level where the cooker doesn't blow."
It never came close.
Estes mounted the only other mild threat, closing within three
on the front nine. But Estes, from Austin, sliced his drive into
the water on No. 8 and bogeyed the hole to drop four back.
By the time Appleby reached No. 13, the only question was
whether he'd break the tournament scoring record of 22 under set by
Vijay Singh in 2002.
Appleby reached the par 5 in two en route to a birdie, then fell
back to 19 under with a bogey on 14. He made routine pars the rest
of the way.
The Houston Open will move to the weekend before the Masters
next year, a jump tournament organizers hope will strengthen the
field.
They may also have to sell more players on the 7,457-yard
Tournament Course, which got mixed reviews in its debut. The event
moved after three years at Redstone's Jacobsen/Hardy course across
the street.
Singh, who won the last two years at the other course, didn't
like the new one.
"The golf course did not grow on me," said Singh, who finished
at 2 under after a closing 71. "Every hole is pretty similar. It's
not a bad golf course -- I just prefer the other one."<
^Divots:@ Singh extended his winless streak to 18 events, his
longest drought since 2002. That year, he snapped a 50-start dry
spell by winning the Houston Open. ... Play was suspended for 40
minutes early Sunday because of fog. ... Appleby's win was the
second straight and fifth this year by an Australian. Appleby
followed Aaron Baddeley's victory at Hilton Head last week. Rod
Pampling and Geoff Ogilvy have also won this year.