Stuart Appleby is certain his wife was with him today when he won the Shell Houston Open, his third career PGA Tour victory and the first since her death last year.

"She gave me the strength today," the native of Australia said after his 1-under-par 71 gave him a one-stroke victory over Hal Sutton and John Cook. "It's not just a golf game which makes you win a tournament.

"Most of it is your mental strength, and that's what I was able to do all week. It's been difficult to do that during the last year."

Appleby finished with a 9-under 279 total one day after his 28th birthday and the win was worth $450,000.

His wife, Renay, was killed last summer in a traffic accident outside a train station in London. He credits her with instilling in him confidence and a positive attitude to "get your act together."

"She's going to be with me forever no matter what I do," said Appleby, who won the 1997 Honda Classic and 1998 Kemper Open.

Sutton, who held a two-shot lead going into the final round, bogeyed two of the final three holes for a 3-over 75. Cook also finished at 280 following a closing 70.

"If somebody had to beat me, I was happy it was Stuart," Sutton said. "He has been through a lot and I can certainly understand how much meaning this has for him.

"I'm sure there's somebody smiling on him right now."

Mark Wiebe, who had a final-round 73, was fourth at 282, while Loren Roberts and Vijay Singh were among five golfers another shot back.

Appleby, three shots behind Sutton at the beginning of play Sunday at the Tournament Players Course at The Woodlands, opened with a birdie but could do little else on the front nine, making bogeys at Nos. 5 and 8. He birdied the par-4 12th to get within one shot of Sutton, but his birdie attempt at No. 13 rolled by the cup.

Another birdie attempt at the par-5 15th slid by the hole but he finally tied Sutton at 9-under with a birdie at No. 17 while Sutton was missing a 3-foot par putt at 16. When Sutton also bogeyed No. 17, Appleby was in the lead.

At the par-4 18th, Appleby's second shot rolled off the back of the green into the rough and a long birdie attempt was short by about 3 feet.

Sutton got to 18 with a chance to tie and force a playoff, but with 15 mph winds swirling and gusting, his 25-foot putt for birdie missed to the right of the cup.

He thought it was going in.

"I'd have bet everything I made this week ...," he said. "It was right on the line I picked ... with the speed."

Appleby, waiting in the scoring tent, said he wasn't watching.

"I just waited ... relaxed," he said.

Sutton had a rocky start, with bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3 before recovering with a birdie at 4. After three straight pars, he bogeyed the par-3 8th, then strung three more pars together before rolling in a 2-foot putt for birdie at 12.

By the time Cook caught fire in search of his 11th career win, he ran out of holes. He started with a birdie, then reeled off 10 straight pars before finally making another birdie at the par-4 12th to pull within one shot of Sutton.

The 41-year-old Californian then found the water on No. 13 and a bunker at 14 for bogeys. After a par at 15, he holed his shot out of the bunker at 16 for a birdie, and followed with another birdie at No. 17 to get to 8-under. A birdie attempt at 18 to get to 9-under was short and he finished with the 70, one of the few players to break par Sunday.

DIVOTS: Defending champion David Duval, the world's No. 1-ranked player, extended to 15 the consecutive number of cuts he's made but easily had his least successful event of the year. Duval, at one point in the second round one shot out of the lead, had a 4-over 76 today to finish at 5-over 293, 14 shots behind Appleby. ... Joey Sindelar, two shots behind at the start of play today, ballooned to a 77. ... Appleby is the seventh foreign-born golfer to win on the PGA Tour this year.