Some of my Williams pride apples have a deformity. The core didn't seal at the blossom end causing the apple to mature several weeks before the non-deformed apples. The open ended cores had begun to decay, a slight mold. I'm have not experienced this before, the tree has produced normal apples for approx. 4 years. Any ideas about what caused this deformity?

A similar thing occurs in the Mutsu, It doesnt seem to affect the fruit much, I assumed it had to do with the speed and size that the fruit grows, Last year I had apples that weighed in at 19 oz each. Huge fruit, very tasty and I have no idea why it opens up like that. Had a couple of apples that had earwigs who left in a hurry when we picked them, Otherewise no adverse condition noted. CJ