Despite the 10 years that have passed, Appleby's memories of the accident, which happened on the cab rank outside Waterloo Station when another taxi backed into Renay, who was taking bags out of the boot, remain vivid. Just wondering what is the next thing that is going to come out of someone's mouth, what are the next words that are going to be whispered.
There was her body laying there, but there was no real spirit. It wasn't Renay. I remember holding her hand. She wasn't there. I just remember putting my head in my hands and bawling my eyes out. Appleby left his parents' dairy farm, and instead of playing in Europe or climbing golf's ladder through college, he went directly to the Nike Tour now Nationwide in He won his first tournament and became a fixture in the United States shortly thereafter.
Appleby possesses a droll sense of humor that he thinks Americans occasionally misinterpret. Appleby has lived in the same Orlando neighborhood as Tiger Woods for years and is a big fan of the world's No. Appleby also thinks Phil Mickelson is supremely gifted, but if the left-hander can't use his plane to keep a pro-am date, what about jumping in a car, Phil? Appleby voices a number of strong opinions about fellow players, the remarkable success of his countrymen and the Presidents Cup.
Also, Appleby might have been one of the first people to have a clue about the O. Simpson verdict. Appleby has built a fulfilling life and happy family after enduring tragedy when his first wife, Renay, was killed in a freak auto accident in There's no list of instructions.
You can't find out in a book. Stuart Appleby: You would think, because of sheer numbers, that wouldn't be the case. Golf is still a country-club attitude over here. It's not as accessible to the masses as it is in other countries, like Australia. To play golf, to belong to a course, just isn't that expensive back home. The same can be said for quality coaching. You won't even get lunch with him. Maybe there's a hunger factor.
Things are just more comfortable here. In America, if you want to make it as a golfer, you go to college on a scholarship. In Australia, you go to the airport with a plane ticket. The competition just isn't there.
You have to leave the country. Some of us did both. Steve Elkington went to college here. Adam Scott, same thing, although for only a year in Las Vegas.
Then there's Robert Allenby. He had family in Europe. He went there. I came directly to the States. I didn't know if I could compete. But there was only one way to find out. I won my first tournament, the Monterrey Open in Mexico. I came over straight from Australia, jet-lagged. Didn't get out of bed for three days.
I had enough money saved to get me through the season. But the balls Bridgestone sent me didn't get across the border in time. So I started with six balls. Had to ration them. I knifed one in the first round. Now I'm down to five. Holy ! I'm rolling in money! Then I won again. Which I didn't keep. Back to Q school, made it and won early in at Honda.
Drive comes from within, wherever you're born. But I know this: In Australia, if you're a promising athlete, you never, ever hear, "We'll get you whatever you want. It's a societal thing. You hold your people up; we chop them down.
If a coach drives up to a lesson here in a nice BMW or Mercedes, you'll say, "Ooh, this guy must be good. A lot of us came out of the Victorian Institute of Sport. The objective was more long-term. In the States, you play college golf for a coach who wants to win this big match—now.
In Australia, it's not a three- or four-year plan. And the first coach I had there when I was 18, Steve Bann, is still my coach. I'm In the States, if you have a coach as a teenager, you'll have a new one in college and another one after you leave. Life skills. You grow up independently, or else. I never went past grade I don't want to say one system is better, but there are some things you can't learn in a book. I wasn't too good with those anyway. Americans believe if you go to college, you have something to fall back on, which makes sense.
I don't have any degrees. If I hadn't become a golfer, I have no idea what I would be doing with my life. I don't think you'd be interviewing me. Are you aware that some players on tour don't think you're very fond of Americans? Couldn't be further from the truth. America has given me everything Australia couldn't.
I grew up on a dairy farm. When I say, "Americans travel like prawns on a hot day," that's my attempt at humor, and I think some of you misinterpret it. What I mean is there's so much over here, so many opportunities, why would you go around the world to play golf? If Australia had offered me what America has, I wouldn't have left home, either. I've been incredibly fortunate. That said, the older I get, the more I feel connected with my home, my childhood. When I go back to Australia for Christmas and we have barbecues or fish on the river or drink a few beers with my family, I love it.
If I can have 10 or 15 more years of good golf, I'd go back and stay. Fortunately my wife Ashley—my American wife—fell in love with Australia the first time she saw it. So, America is my physical home, and Australia is my spiritual home. Coolest thing in the world. As a kid, I'd get up at 5 or in the morning. I'd fish on the Murray River, my mecca, or hunt or trap rabbits. Maybe I could sell a skin for 20 cents.
Then I'd come home and have to wash my hands in bleach so I wouldn't stink up the school bus. My dad, Malcolm, pretty much handled things himself. In the summer, the busy season, I'd do chores like baling hay. I started "playing golf" with palm fronds. I was lucky to take to it, but not lucky to work hard. I learned that from my parents. They never sat me down and told me, "If you work hard, you'll succeed. I just watched them.
At Cohuna Golf Club. When I go back, people ask me to play, but I want that part of my life frozen. I don't even want to take a divot out of that place. If I had one round to play in my life, though, it would be there. Like I said, affordable. What do you do at Isleworth when you want to play? Do you ring up Tiger and say, "Let's have a game"?
No, not really. I don't play that much at Isleworth. I don't go home to play golf. There are several guys who live there. I might see them on the range if I'm practicing, but socially, it's not like we all hang out when we're home.
I want to hang out with my wife and children. The guys, we see a lot of each other on the road show. To have him at the helm, the best golfer in the world, maybe the most famous athlete in the world, is tremendous for our sport.
He's a consummate professional. Can you imagine if Tiger, with all his credentials, was an a--hole? Representing golf? We're lucky he is who he is. And people don't see the other side of him. He's funny. Very funny. You mean his trophy house?
He's got them everywhere. Embedded in the walls, on tables, in cases. Last time I was there, he had only one spot open in the wall. I think he must give most of the trophies away, anyway. Probably turns them away like wine. Can you imagine how much crystal he's given away? He doesn't have to shop for Christmas. Now he's building his dream house, so he'll have more room for his trophies. And his television sets. He's even got a incher, a plasma, in the toilet. First of all, they're different people in every way.
Tiger is a man of action. Rory is a man of words. Rory has a great deal of belief in himself. I'm sure that confidence is one reason he's where he is. But he likes that First Amendment, even if what he said about Tiger is bull.
Rory lets his mouth move before his golf club. He leads the FedEx Cup points race in that department—comfortably. Interesting character, maybe an enigma. He is what he is. He works the media very well. I think he thinks about what he wants to say more than any other player. Some of what he says seems rehearsed, contrived. Maybe most of it. Appleby still is searching for answers to why a seemingly perfect life had to be shattered.
The couple appeared to have everything. They had a beautiful new house in Orlando, and most important, they had each other. Appleby said marrying Renay was like "winning the raffle. And then suddenly, while leaving for a second honeymoon in Paris, it was all gone.
At my worst, I feel terrible. It's a feeling I would not wish on anyone. It's a feeling that you have so many questions but can't find the answers. In my job, if I have a question, I can find an answer. If it's a golf question, I'll ask my coach. His fellow golfers and their wives are acting as Appleby's extended family. Billy Mayfair had tears in his eyes walking up the 18th fairway toward victory in the Buick Classic on Sunday, thinking about Renay.
He figured he had two options, the first of which was not very appealing. There are more steps ahead on the long journey. Twilight cast long shadows across Sahalee late Monday afternoon when Appleby emerged from the clubhouse. A dozen players were on the range, two dozen others on the putting green.
They looked over at Appleby, none of them quite sure what to say or even if it would matter. For a moment, the final major of the year lost some of its significance.
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