Stu Appleby Won't Give Baby His Bottle

Stuart Appleby, still angry about his Australian PGA Championship performance, took time out to acknowledge something I pointed out in this blog: Robert Allenby is a baby.

Allenby all-but guaranteed he would be heckled at The Australian course in Sydney, saying he has his earplugs ready for the 11th hole, which will come complete with its own bar.

Not all players would have made a similar stance. Appleby, for one, would have kept his mouth firmly closed.

“There's a lot of players out there, I'm not sure if the public's trying to target Robert,” Appleby said. “It sounds like Robert's saying they will, which only heightens it. You drop a piece of meat on the ground, you don't have to yell out, 'Piece of meat' to the flies, they work out where it is pretty quick. If he's yelling out, 'They're going to be all over me', well, guess what they'll be? All over him. I would've kept quiet.”

To Appleby, the whole matter is a storm in a beer cup.

“I don't know, I just think it's all a waste of time, a waste of breath if you ask me,” he said. “It's not even a topic. Every tournament someone's going to have some beers, they're everywhere.”

Two weeks ago Allenby threatened not to play in his native country again after being heckled by three drunken fans during the Australian Masters.

Meanwhile, Allenby made the absolute dumbest move possible earlier in the week by appealing to the fans that will come to the 11th hole at the Australian - a par 3 whose stands will be modeled after the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale.

"Be considerate to the players and be responsible for your own actions," is Allenby's appeal.

"It's a bit like me taking a 12-pack into somebody's office with six of my buddies and getting absolutely off the tree. See if they can do their work. "I'll deal with it [if a similar situation occurs this week]. I've got the ear-plugs ready. I'm here to win the tournament, I'm not here to run second and I'm not going to let anyone put me off."

And just to reinforce the point, Badds says he loves the idea of replicating the FBR scene.

"This week is something we're not used to seeing in Australia. I think it's good," he said. "You just have to expect there is going to be some noise on that hole. It's as simple as that. They [the drunks] can't be any worse than they are over there. Supposedly you can't bring alcohol to the FBR but they definitely smuggle it in. You can't be that rowdy without it.

"They are respectful of the shot, but there is still noise … it's just a party. If you hit it to 20 feet, they are going to boo you and they know all the little details. I have a dog in Melbourne called Brutus, and they yell out every year, 'How's Brutus'?"

Then, there's something that I didn't know about the golf scene down in Australia, but makes me love the country all the more.

Huntingdale has been notorious through the years for its alcohol-fueled spectators. Years ago Bob Shearer had to chip over a chap who'd collapsed into a drunken sleep. It was the Melbourne Cup of golf which attracted those who simply went for the occasion - and to drink.