Stuart Appleby

---

title: "Stuart Appleby" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["australian-male-golfers", "pga-tour-of-australasia-golfers", "pga-tour-golfers", "australian-expatriate-golfers-in-the-united-states", "korn-ferry-tour-graduates", "sportsmen-from-victoria-(state)", "golfers-from-orlando,-florida", "1971-births", "living-people", "presidents-cup-competitors-for-international"] description: "Australian professional golfer" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Appleby" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian professional golfer ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox golfer"]

Field	Value
name	Stuart Appleby
image	Stuart_Appleby.jpg
imagesize	240px
caption	Appleby at the 2005 PGA Championship
birth_date
birth_place	Cohuna, Victoria, Australia
death_date
height
weight	195 lb
nationality
residence	Orlando, Florida, U.S.
spouse
children	4
yearpro	1992
retired
tour	PGA Tour Champions
extour	PGA Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia
prowins	20
pgawins	9
eurowins
japwins
asiawins
sunwins
auswins	3
nwidewins	2
chalwins
champwins
seneurowins
otherwins	6
majorwins
masters	T7: 2007
usopen	T10: 1998
open	T2: 2002
pga	T4: 2000
wghofid
wghofyear
award1	[PGA Tour
Comeback Player of the Year](pga-tour-comeback-player-of-the-year)
year1	2010
awardssection
::

| name = Stuart Appleby | image = Stuart_Appleby.jpg | imagesize = 240px | caption = Appleby at the 2005 PGA Championship | fullname = | nickname = | birth_date = | birth_place = Cohuna, Victoria, Australia | death_date = | death_place = | height = | weight = 195 lb | nationality = | residence = Orlando, Florida, U.S. | spouse = | children = 4 | college = | yearpro = 1992 | retired = | tour = PGA Tour Champions | extour = PGA Tour PGA Tour of Australasia | prowins = 20 | pgawins = 9 | eurowins = | japwins = | asiawins = | sunwins = | auswins = 3 | nwidewins = 2 | chalwins = | champwins = | seneurowins = | otherwins = 6 | majorwins = | masters = T7: 2007 | usopen = T10: 1998 | open = T2: 2002 | pga = T4: 2000 | wghofid = | wghofyear = | award1 = PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year | year1 = 2010 | award2 = | year2 = | awardssection = Stuart Appleby (born 1 May 1971) is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour.

Early life

Appleby was born in Cohuna, Victoria, and grew up on a nearby dairy farm. He began in golf by hitting balls from paddock to paddock after his farm chores were completed. As a youth, he played Australian rules football.

Professional career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Stuart_Appleby_at_2015_PGA_Championship.jpg" caption="Appleby at the [[2010 PGA Championship"] ::

Appleby turned professional in 1992 and began his career on the PGA Tour of Australasia. In 1995 he won twice on the Nike Tour (now known as the Web.com Tour), the second tier men's tour in the U.S. He was the eighth player to win his first Web.com Tour start. He qualified to compete on the PGA Tour the following year by finishing the season fifth on the money list.

Appleby has won nine times on the PGA Tour. He was a member of the International Team in the Presidents Cup five times, and featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking in 2004. His best performance in a major championship came in 2002, where he lost in a four-way playoff to Ernie Els at The Open Championship.

In 2010, during the final round of the inaugural Greenbrier Classic, Appleby became the fifth player in history to shoot a 59 in an official PGA Tour event, and won the PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year award. Appleby was limited to seven starts before back surgery in March 2015. He made a start on the Web.com Tour for the first time in twenty years at the Nova Scotia Open, where he finished T36. Qualified for a medical extension, Appleby was allowed entry into the Web.com Tour Finals, but did not make a cut and played the 2016 season on a major medical extension. He burned through his medical extension and finished 143rd in the FedEx Cup. He tried to regain his Tour card through the Web.com Finals, but did not finish high enough when Hurricane Matthew threatened Florida and the final tournament was cancelled, leaving the top 25 players with their cards, and Appleby finished 31st, leaving him with limited status for the 2017 season. He finished 192nd in the FedEx Cup, limiting him to the Past Champions category for 2018.

Personal life

Appleby's first wife Renay was struck and killed by a taxicab outside London Waterloo station in 1998, shortly after he had missed the cut at The Open Championship.

Appleby married his second wife, Ashley Saleet, in 2002, and they live with their four children in Orlando, Florida. After the 1999 plane crash that killed his friend and next-door neighbour Payne Stewart, he has been one of the key father figures for Stewart's children, Chelsea and Aaron. In his spare time, Appleby enjoys motor racing. and patron for Stuart Appleby Junior Golf.

Professional wins (20)

PGA Tour wins (9)

::data[format=table] | No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | 16 Mar 1997 | Honda Classic | 68-68-67-71=274 | −14 | 1 stroke | USA Michael Bradley, USA Payne Stewart | | 2 | 7 Jun 1998 | Kemper Open | 70-63-69-72=274 | −10 | 1 stroke | USA Scott Hoch | | 3 | 2 May 1999 | Shell Houston Open | 70-68-70-71=279 | −9 | 1 stroke | USA John Cook, USA Hal Sutton | | 4 | 12 Oct 2003 | Las Vegas Invitational | 62-68-63-66-69=328 | −31 | Playoff | USA Scott McCarron | | 5 | 11 Jan 2004 | Mercedes Championships | 66-67-66-71=270 | −22 | 1 stroke | FJI Vijay Singh | | 6 | 9 Jan 2005 | Mercedes Championships (2) | 74-64-66-67=271 | −21 | 1 stroke | USA Jonathan Kaye | | 7 | 8 Jan 2006 | Mercedes Championships (3) | 71-72-70-71=284 | −8 | Playoff | FJI Vijay Singh | | 8 | 23 Apr 2006 | Shell Houston Open (2) | 66-67-69-67=269 | −19 | 6 strokes | USA Bob Estes | | 9 | 1 Aug 2010 | Greenbrier Classic | 66-68-65-59=258 | −22 | 1 stroke | USA Jeff Overton | ::

PGA Tour playoff record (2–1) ::data[format=table]

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2002	The Open Championship	AUS Steve Elkington, ZAF Ernie Els,
FRA Thomas Levet	Els won with par on first extra hole after four-hole aggregate playoff;
Els: E (4-3-5-4=16),
Levet: E (4-2-5-5=16),
Appleby: +1 (4-3-5-5=17),
Elkington: +1 (5-3-4-5=17)
2	2003	Las Vegas Invitational	USA Scott McCarron	Won with birdie on first extra hole
3	2006	Mercedes Championships	FIJ Vijay Singh	Won with birdie on first extra hole
::

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (3)

::data[format=table]

Legend
Flagship events (1)
Other PGA Tour of Australasia (2)
::

::data[format=table] | No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | 20 Dec 1998 | Schweppes Coolum Classic | 68-67-67-69=271 | −17 | 4 strokes | AUS Craig Spence | | 2 | 25 Nov 2001 (2002 season) | Holden Australian Open | 69-70-67-65=271 | −17 | 3 strokes | AUS Scott Laycock | | 3 | 14 Nov 2010 | JBWere Masters | 71-69-69-65=274 | −10 | 1 stroke | AUS Adam Bland | ::

Nike Tour wins (2)

::data[format=table] | No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | 19 Mar 1995 | Nike Monterrey Open | 68-70-67-68=273 | −15 | Playoff | MEX Rafael Alarcón | | 2 | 1 Oct 1995 | Nike Sonoma County Open | 69-69-65-66=269 | −19 | 4 strokes | USA Bobby Collins, USA Joe Durant, USA Jerry Kelly | ::

Nike Tour playoff record (1–1) ::data[format=table]

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1995	Nike Monterrey Open	MEX Rafael Alarcón	Won with birdie on seventh extra hole
2	1995	Nike Ozarks Open	USA P. H. Horgan III, USA Mike Schuchart	Schuchart won with birdie on second extra hole
::

Australasian Foundation Tour wins (5)

• 1991 Queensland Open (as an amateur)
• 1994 Victorian PGA Championship, Tasmanian Classic, South Australian PGA Championship, Nedlands Masters

Other wins (1)

::data[format=table] | No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runners-up | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | 3 Aug 1999 | CVS Charity Classic (with USA Jeff Sluman) | 63-59=122 | −20 | 2 strokes | USA Brett Quigley and USA Dana Quigley | ::

Results in major championships

::data[format=table]

! Tournament	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Masters Tournament	T21	CUT	CUT	CUT	T31	CUT	CUT	T22	T43	T19	T7	T14	T30		CUT
U.S. Open	T36	T10	CUT	CUT	CUT	T37	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	T26	T36	CUT	T29
The Open Championship	T20	CUT	CUT	T11	61	T2	T15	T36	T41	CUT	CUT	T51	T65
PGA Championship	T61	CUT	CUT	T4	T16	T17	T23	T17	T15	T55	T12	T15	CUT	T68
::

CUT = missed the half-way cut

"T" = tied

Summary

::data[format=table]

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made	Totals	0	1	0	2	4	18	55	34
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	1	5	14	8
U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	1	1	14	6
The Open Championship	0	1	0	1	1	4	13	9
PGA Championship	0	0	0	1	1	8	14	11
::

• Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2007 PGA – 2009 Masters)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (four times)

Results in The Players Championship

::data[format=table]

Tournament	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
The Players Championship	T14	CUT	CUT	T22	T33	T28	T21	CUT	CUT	CUT	T16	T15	CUT		CUT			T77
::

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

::data[format=table]

Tournament	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Match Play	R64	R64	R16	R64	R64	R32	R32	R64	R64	R16	R64
Championship	T30	T25	NT1	T11	T2	T16	T11	T6	T35	T34	T61
Invitational	T23	T20	T5	T42	T46	T9	T13	T71	T14	T2	T51	T63	76
Champions			T69	T42
::

1Cancelled due to 9/11

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play

"T" = Tied

NT = No tournament

Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Note: Appleby is the only golfer to compete in the first 32 WGC events.

Team appearances

Amateur

• Sloan Morpeth Trophy (representing Australia): 1992
• Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches (representing Victoria): 1991, 1992

Professional

• World Cup (representing Australia): 1996, 2003, 2009
• Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Australia): 1997, 1998
• Presidents Cup (International Team): 1998 (winners), 2000, 2003 (tie), 2005, 2007

References

References

1. Hinds, Richard. (17 July 2008). "Ten years after tragedy, renewed Appleby resurfaces at Royal Birkdale". The Sydney Morning Herald.
2. "About Stuart". Stuart Appleby's official site.
3. "69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 in World Ranking". Official World Golf Ranking.
4. "Golf Major Championships".
5. (1 August 2010). "Appleby ends 4-year drought with 59". ESPN.
6. (13 December 2010). "Appleby named 2010 Tour Comeback Player of the Year". PGA Tour.
7. Babineau, Jeff. (24 July 1998). "Accident takes life of Appleby's wife". Orlando Sentinel.
8. Kelley, Steve. (12 August 1998). "A matter of life and death -- Appleby returns to golf without his beloved Renay". The Seattle Times.
9. Van Sickle, Gary. (10 May 1999). "Heaven sent".
10. Merrill, Elizabeth. (16 June 2009). "In his father's footsteps". ESPN.
11. (2011-11-15). "Crown Lager and Golf Australia partner on new social golf program". Brews News.
12. (11 March 2009). "Week 10 Approach Shots: CA Championship". PGA Tour.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::