Chat with the champ: Appleby on sports, food and equipment

Jan. 3, 2006

Editor’s note: This “Chat with the champ” is the first in a series of Q&As with PGA TOUR defending champions that will run regularly throughout the 2006 season. PGA TOUR media official Joan Alexander spoke with Mercedes Championships winner Stuart Appleby for this installment.

PGATOUR.com: What is your favorite PGA TOUR golf memory as a kid?

APPLEBY: I would say getting up in the early hours of the morning to watch the British Open before I went to school.

PGATOUR.com: What is the last non-golf sporting event you attended?

APPLEBY: I went and competed in the Targa Tasmania, a road rally in a Lamborghini.

PGATOUR.com: What did you do on your first date with your wife?

APPLEBY: We went out to dinner and chatted for hours. I do remember going to the toilet a fair bit, maybe I was nervous?

PGATOUR.com: What is the weirdest place you've been noticed and been asked for an autograph?

APPLEBY: Sorry to say nothing too weird has popped up like that yet.

PGATOUR.com: What is your favorite food?

APPLEBY: Mom’s roast lamb and veg -- it's a clear winner.

PGATOUR.com: What was the TV show you couldn't miss as a kid?

APPLEBY: I loved watching the sports shows on the in the afternoon on weekends.

PGATOUR.com: Name one restaurant in a TOUR tournament city you have to visit every year?

APPLEBY: We never miss "Nans" Thai restaurant in Atlanta -- unreal.

PGATOUR.com: Approximate number of golf clubs you have at your house?

APPLEBY: I get all my gear for free and I'd have to say I know more amateurs that have more clubs than I do. I think I'd have less than six sets of clubs in my whole garage.

PGATOUR.com: How many pairs of shoes are in your closet?

APPLEBY: I survive on less then six pairs of shoes with ease.

PGATOUR.com: What's better, the NCAA basketball tournament or the college football bowl season?

APPLEBY: You asked the wrong guy, I don't follow either.

PGATOUR.com: What’s your favorite candy bar?

APPLEBY: Luckily I don't have a big sweet tooth, but I miss some of the candy that we've got in Australia now and then.

PGATOUR.com: How many movies will you see over in a single year and favorite movie?

APPLEBY: I've just become a father so watching movies is a thing of the past for us. I don't think I'd see more than six movies in the last two years. Don't have a single favorite movie, but a certain one with the initials “CS” comes to mind.

PGATOUR.com: As a chef in the kitchen, what's your specialty?

APPLEBY: I do wish I had a specialty in the kitchen, but I manage to keep the house feed and away from a hospital.

PGATOUR.com: What was the name of your pet when you were a kid?

APPLEBY: Growing up on the farm we had that many dogs over the years. I remember them all for different reasons.

PGATOUR.com: How many chin-ups do you think you could do right now?

APPLEBY: I'm pathetic at chin-ups. I wish I could tell you that I could do more than six.

PGATOUR.com: Have you ever caught a foul ball or home run ball at a major league baseball game?

APPLEBY: The last thing I caught was a cold. I've not been in the right part of a field to get the hand out.

PGATOUR.com: If you had to watch an entire awards show, would you watch the Academy Awards, the Emmys, the MTV Music Awards or the Grammys?

APPLEBY: Please don't make me watch an awards show -- no interest in them.

PGATOUR.com: What’s the best place you have ever visited?

APPLEBY: Home on the farm with my parents at the end of a year.

PGATOUR.com: What’s your favorite Course?

APPLEBY: Kingston Heath, Royal Melbourne, St. Andrews -- sorry I couldn't pick one.

PGATOUR.com: What’s your favorite golf hole?

APPLEBY: The one I just birdied.

PGATOUR.com: What’s the best shot of your career?

APPLEBY: I'll let you know when I think it deserves that status.

PGATOUR.com: What’s one mulligan you'd like to take?

APPLEBY: I missed a putt in 2004 on the final hole of the Australian Open (to) force a playoff that one I'd love to have again.

PGATOUR.com: What’s the oldest club in your bag?

APPLEBY: My Bridgestone 3-wood has been in the bag for over five years.

PGATOUR.com: What’s the best book you have read not written by you?

APPLEBY: I'm not a book worm by any length, but my last book was called “The Dig Tree." It was about bridging the vast open space of central Australia in the 1860s and getting explorers to connect with the North. It was the single most important event in Australia's history for many years.

PGATOUR.com: When was the last time you bought a golf ball?

APPLEBY: My wife buys a ball at the majors for her father, but I can't remember buying one since I turned pro in ’92.

PGATOUR.com: If you were not playing professional golf what would be your career job?

APPLEBY: I really don't know, maybe a trade job, maybe a farmer. I didn't actually have a future lined up when I turned pro.

PGATOUR.com: Who would be in your dream foursome?

APPLEBY: Me and my mates, would be the best foursome I could think of.

PGATOUR.com: Who is your favorite male athlete?

APPLEBY: Lance Armstrong, Michael Jordan, Andre Agassi are the pick of the crop.

PGATOUR.com: And your favorite female athlete?

APPLEBY: Steffi Graf.

PGATOUR.com: What’s your favorite sporting event, non-golf?

APPLEBY: I can't think of one that comes to mind. I love many sports -- sorry for the broad answer.

PGATOUR.com: Who would you buy a ticket to watch?

APPLEBY: I'm not a person that turns up to events. Big screen TVs make it even more realistic then ever, so maybe I'd get a bit closer the screen.

PGATOUR.com: Who’s your favorite musician or group?

APPLEBY: My wife plays all sorts of music in the car so I've got to listen to a wide variety, but I like "Ministry of Sound" and Moby.