Appleby Named 2010 PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year

One year after finishing outside the top 125 for the first time since his rookie season in 1996, Australia’s Stuart Appleby was honored as the 2010 PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year.

Appleby earned the award via a vote by his fellow competitors following a season that included a historic final round 59 en route to victory at The Greenbrier Classic.

Another late rally gave Appleby the Australian Masters in November. He shot a Sunday 65 to record a come-from-behind victory - his first on the Australian PGA Tour since the 2001 Australian Open.

The 39-year-old Aussie spoke of his rebound season after his win at Victoria Golf Club.

"What has turned around this year?" Appleby questioned. "I guess persistence. You know, just knowing that the best thing about being in a low is it's the low. It's like fishing; if there's a low tide you guess what's coming, you have just got to move forward. You don't know how
long someone is going to hold the pause button, but you just know if you have the belief, the belief becomes the reason why turn things around.

"It's not always one great swing tip or one single thing," he continued. "It just happens to be that day after day after day that you will find a way and that the challenge, as frustrating and depressing as it is, is actually quite exciting because you know that change of tide is going to come and you just have to ride it out and for me it was a while. You know, there are parts of everybody's life, whether it's golf or something else, but for me, my career has always been a steady move forward and certainly pauses are a part of the game and everyone can look at periods where it's not so good.

"To really have the win only in August and then this really wraps this year up with a nice bow, compared to what the first half of the year felt like, and obviously the year before."

“Congratulations to Stuart Appleby for being voted the PGA Tour Comeback Player of the year by his peers,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem. “Stuart showed great perseverance in returning to the winner’s circle at The Greenbrier Classic in a historic manner.”

Appleby, who is currently No. 28 in the Official World Golf Rankings, was selected for PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year over Arjun Atwal and Rocco Mediate.