ASSOCIATED PRESS Australian Stuart Appleby and his five countrymen at the Mercedes Championships took home $1.6 million.

Appleby not the only
Aussie to do well

KAPALUA, Maui » If you think the Americans and Europeans are the only ones who've got game on the PGA Tour, you aren't looking Down Under.

This week, six of the 31 golfers in the winners-only Mercedes Championships were from Australia. And while Stuart Appleby grabbed most of the cash during yesterday's final round of the $5.3 million tournament, the other five finishers in this elite field didn't leave Maui with empty wallets.

Adam Scott had the best round of the day with a stellar 8-under 65 to finish in a tie for fifth with world No. 1 Vijay Singh and American Stewart Cink. He began the rainy round nine strokes off the pace set by Singh and finished only three shots behind Appleby to cash a $211,333 paycheck.

"It was a perfect finish," said Scott, who won the Players Championship and Booz Allen Classic to earn a spot in the tournament. "Today, I made some putts and, you know, made a bit of a move up the leaderboard, but I was really too far out of it, so it was tough.

"It was looking pretty nasty when we first started, but it calmed down and then picked up again. You know, it's just about not making mistakes and I didn't make too many today. I think I missed one green, so that's pretty solid."

His Aussie mates braved the bad weather as well as any group. Appleby's 67 tied for the second-best round of the day with South African Retief Goosen. A two-part storm pushed through West Maui yesterday, leaving most of the golfers looking for shelter from their array of bad shots.

But Appleby remained steady and true long enough to earn a one-stroke victory over erratic Jonathan Kaye and two shots over Tiger Woods and Ernie Els to pocket $1.060 million.

"I think most guys from Australia are pretty good wind players and there was a lot of that this week," Appleby said. "You had to make some adjustments out there today because it was different conditions from what we were used to.

"We've definitely got a good group of guys who enjoy playing competitive golf. The Americans have their fair share of golfers and I feel like we represent the international field quite well. It's good to see the guys go out this week and shoot some good numbers."

Scott conceded it was a little easier for him to go low yesterday because he was so far back in the field. For Appleby, there was a lot more pressure on him because he was near the top of the leaderboard for most of the day.

"Oh definitely, definitely," Scott said when asked if being out of contention allows you to shoot a low number. "You can just open up more than you would if you were in contention. Hitting stuff like shots into the last, just go right over the gunch (rough) and try to hit a good shot, whereas you probably want to be a little safer when you're fighting to get a win.

"We're a pretty competitive group. We like to see who can go the lowest each week. Kind of fun to be able to compete with the guys you know. We've got a lot of golfers in Australia who can play out here on tour."

Count burly Craig Parry among them. He opened with a 67 to find himself trailing first-round leader Singh by only one shot. Parry struggled a bit the rest of the way, but still shot a 68 on Saturday and a 2-under 71 yesterday to finish in a tie for 10th with Sergio Garcia. He earned $145,000 for his efforts.

"This is such a great spot," Parry said. "I brought the family over. We're having a great time. Golf gets in the way of enjoying Hawaii sometimes. This is actually the best I felt going into a PGA Tour event. I played in Australia and Japan at the end of last year. It's always good going home for a while. It helped me sharpen my game."

The remaining three Aussies in the field played well enough to deserve mention. Rod Pampling closed with a 72 to finish in a tie for 19th with countryman Mark Hensby and Canadian Stephen Ames with a 283 total. Both earned $83,000. Andre Stolz was another shot back and alone in 22nd, good enough for $79,000.

All told, the Aussies cleaned out the Mercedes vault for more than $1.6 million. Only Appleby is skipping this week's Sony Open in Hawaii to be with his wife, who will have their baby delivered on Wednesday.