ASSOCIATED PRESS Australian Stuart Appleby celebrated his second straight win at the Mercedes Championships yesterday at the Kapalua Plantation Course at Kapalua, Maui.

It’s Appleby again

Stuart Appleby finishes one stroke
ahead of Jonathan Kaye to win his
second straight title at Kapalua

KAPALUA, Maui » Stuart Appleby remained under the radar just long enough to break out of the clouds and secure his second consecutive $5.3 million Mercedes Championships before anyone had a chance to stop him.

First things first The 2005 Mercedes Championships featured several firsts: Back-to-back champ Stuart Appleby became the first golfer to win consecutive titles in this tournament since Lanny Wadkins did it in 1982 and '83 when the event was played in LaCosta, Calif. Streak snapped Vijay Singh failed to win after leading through 54 holes for the first time in 11 tournaments. Triple bogey Singh recorded his first triple bogey since last year's Canadian Open, where he had two triples yet went on to beat hometown favorite Mike Weir for the title.

Trailing world No. 1 Vijay Singh by four shots entering yesterday's windy and rainy final round, Appleby quietly moved into contention before securing the lead for good with a 21-foot birdie putt on 17.

Ernie Els and Jonathan Kaye had legitimate shots to pull even with Appleby, but the demons who plagued most of the golfers at this week's winners-only event came out in gale force on the 18th.

Els hit his tee shot so far to the right President Bush may ask him to be a commentator for Fox News during his off weeks. Kaye found the fairway on both of his shots on the famed 663-yard par-5 hole, but when he needed to chip it close, he didn't, giving Appleby the win.

"I was not really observing what was going on too much because I knew I was moving up the leaderboard and there's no point observing where I was," Appleby said. "In a low-scoring affair like this, you've got no time."

The Aussie finished with a four-day total of 271 after his 67 in the final round, which was delayed about 4 hours because of rains that came earlier than expected.

Appleby didn't have a bogey over the final 55 holes. His 21-under-par effort left him one shot removed from Kaye, who settled for a final-round 71, and two shots better than Els and Tiger Woods. Els bogeyed the final hole for an up-and-down 71. Woods shot a 4-under 68, but could have easily won this tournament had he made any putts.

"I think I had 300 this week," Woods said, then smiled. "I probably had more opportunities within 15 feet than I've had in a long time. I really hit it some kind of good this week and I just made nothing."

That was not the case for Appleby, who drove the par-4 sixth from about 375 yards (the tees were moved up) and sank a 12-footer for eagle. It led to a 4-under effort on the front side and allowed him to draw even with Singh and Kaye as he made the turn.

From there, Appleby shot only 2 under on the back side, but given all the twists and turns that plagued Singh, Els and Kaye down the stretch, it proved to be the winning formula.

"I was very pleased with getting 4 under at the turn," Appleby said. "I thought if I can squeeze two or three more out on the back nine, we'll sort of see how the cards lay."

The cards fell right in place. After Kaye moved to 21 under with a chip-in for eagle at the par-5 ninth and a birdie on the 10th, his bogey on 12 proved to be his undoing.

"Twelve was just straight out a hard hole, probably one of the hardest holes we played all day, at least when we got there," Kaye said. "The fan blew 45 miles an hour straight in. I don't think that was inexperience. I knew where I wanted to hit it; I just didn't hit it there. It's hard to hit a 5-iron from an upslope to a downhill green with the wind blowing 35 mph in your face and blind."

Singh's problems down the stretch were mostly his own. He pulled his drive into the tall stuff on the par-4 13th and compounded his problem with a series of suspect chips and poor putts that led to a triple-bogey 7, effectively removing him from the chase.

"I didn't play that bad, except for the drive on 13," Singh said. "I thought the wind would have stayed down, but it blew quite a bit. I lost the tournament right there. It took a lot out of me there."

But don't look for any sympathy from Appleby. He entered the tournament in such poor shape physically, he almost didn't play. He landed here Tuesday from Australia with a bad back and hip that left him thinking of pulling out of the tournament. His trainer worked him into shape, but he still managed to beat only one golfer with a 74 in the opening round.

He shot 22 under over the next three rounds to not only become the first golfer to successfully defend his title since Lanny Wadkins turned the trick in 1982-83, but become the first golfer since Johnny Miller in 1974 to win the tournament after opening with an over-par round.

"I think you could go long odds on me winning the tournament after seeing Round 1," Appleby said. "That would be a bit silly, but it was still a great week. I can't complain. I hit the ball great."

Mercedes Championships

At Kapalua, Hawaii
Purse: $5.3 million
Final Round

Stuart Appleby, $1,060,000	74-64-66-67	--	271
Jonathan Kaye, $600,000	68-67-66-71	--	272
Tiger Woods, $350,000	68-68-69-68	--	273
Ernie Els, $350,000	69-65-68-71	--	273
Adam Scott, $211,333.34	69-72-68-65	--	274
Stewart Cink, $211,333.33	68-68-67-71	--	274
Vijay Singh, $211,333.33	66-65-69-74	--	274
David Toms, $165,000	71-67-70-68	--	276
Vaughn Taylor, $165,000	69-69-68-70	--	276
Sergio Garcia, $145,000	68-67-73-70	--	278
Craig Parry, $145,000	67-72-68-71	--	278
Woody Austin, $130,000	69-72-68-70	--	279
Jonathan Byrd, $110,000	72-70-71-67	--	280
Retief Goosen, $110,000	71-67-69-73	--	280
Mike Weir, $110,000	70-63-71-76	--	280
Bart Bryant, $91,000	69-72-69-71	--	281
John Daly, $88,000	70-69-70-73	--	282
Chad Campbell, $88,000	69-67-71-75	--	282
Rod Pampling, $83,000	70-72-69-72	--	283
Stephen Ames, $83,000	73-72-67-71	--	283
Mark Hensby, $83,000	70-73-71-69	--	283
Andre Stolz, $79,000	73-71-71-70	--	285
Joey Sindelar, $75,000	71-68-71-76	--	286
Heath Slocum, $75,000	69-70-72-75	--	286
Zach Johnson, $75,000	72-70-71-73	--	286
Ryan Palmer, $70,000	76-68-71-72	--	287
Todd Hamilton, $70,000	72-72-72-71	--	287
Brent Geiberger, $68,000	72-73-71-72	--	288
Steve Flesch, $67,000	69-73-72-75	--	289
Fred Funk, $66,000	74-74-67-75	--	290
Carlos Franco, $65,000	74-71-72-75	--	292