General / Editor / 30 March 2007 /

Defending champion Stuart Appleby played down his six-under-par round of 66 which gave him a share of the lead at the Shell Houston Open, after he admitted he is not at the top of his game at the moment.

The Australian carded seven birdies in his first sub-70 round of the season but he missed seven of the 14 fairways and although he was happy to be at the top of the leaderboard, he admitted he is still far from his best.

Appleby, who has only one top-25 finish from seven events this season and has not won since lifting this title last year, said: "The course is there to be had. It's not a difficult course in no wind.

"I'm not really worried about trying to just play good every week and win," he added.

"I'm more worried about playing poorer golf better. That's probably what today was. It wasn't quite right, but it was a lot better golf."

Appleby shares the lead with the American duo of Kevin Sutherland and Johnson Wagner, one shot clear of an all-US group of six, Justin Leonard, Jeff Maggert, Vaughn Taylor, Kyle Reifers, Matt Hendrix and Bob Estes.

Ryder Cup hero Lee Westwood fired a round of 68 to lie two shots off the pace in a group alongside Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker, Daniel Chopra and Tommy Armour III.

Appleby is now the clear favourite at 6.2 to retain his crown, with Adam Scott, who shot 69 to lie three shots adrift, next best at 12.5, Taylor at 14 and Stricker 18.

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