"Selfish" Appleby secretly glad Woods and Mickelson opted out of Mercedes Championship

Appleby the outspoken. Shades of Greg Norman!

Recently, Stuart Appleby was quibbling about Michelle Wie, complaining that she should wait before entering the PGA Tour, now he’s moved on to a bigger target, namely Tiger Woods!

“So happy you couldn’t make it again this year” is probably what Stuart Appleby has been thinking to himself about Mickelson and Woods for the past three Mercedes-Benz Championships. Not that there isn’t viable competition at this first, very “suntanned” FedEx Cup golffest of 2007 but without the two heavyweights in the field, the golfers are certainly more relaxed.

Instead, Appleby’s sentiments were a bit more courteous, “I don’t want to be too selfish but we are all players trying to do our thing and Tiger sure is enjoying his lifestyle back home.”

These benign sentiments usually are reserved for events where the winner is standing next to the guy who just lost, trying to make the loser feel better by assuaging his ego.

Great soft-shoe Appleby, but my guess is that the entire field feels the same way about Tiger missing the season opener. I’ll also bet that many players are secretly hoping that Elin has the baby right before a major tournament so Tiger’s mind is not completely on his game, or even better…maybe he’ll just stay away altogether and give everyone else a chance!

But then again, Aussie’s ruled last year. Can the Australian streak last through 2007?

Geoff Ogilvy seems to think that Stuart Appleby is the next Australian pro to break into the top-ten. “Adam (Scott) is already fourth in the world, but Stuart – (it) wouldn’t be surprising if he ends the year top five or six.”

Appleby has a good chance of sweeping the Mercedes-Benz Championship for a fourth year and then he might feel a bit more confident about pushing into the top-ten on the money list. But, it’s alot easier if Woods isn’t playing. It’s hard to feel comfortable on a Sunday, when Tiger is chasing you down. “We’re all still trying to beat Tiger, aren’t we?” admitted Ogilvy. “He’s the true rival of everybody. He’s the best.”