Aussie Appleby defends in Houston

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HOUSTON, Texas -- Stuart Appleby will be looking to repeat his impressive victory in last year's Houston Open in the final tournament before next week's Masters at Augusta.

The Australian won in 2006 by six shots and became the first wire-to-wire victor in the tournament's 60-year history.

But his form has been patchy this season and he has yet to break 70 in six PGA tour starts.

The tournament, slotted into a new date a week before the first major of the season, has been hard-hit by the non-appearance of world number one Tiger Woods, who is taking this week off.

So are defending Masters champion Phil Mickelson, world number two Jim Furyk, Fiji's Vijay Singh and South African Ernie Els.

But there is still a strong field at the $5.5 million event, including eighth-ranked American David Toms, who helped architect Rees Jones design the Redstone Golf Club layout.

Ireland's Padraig Harrington, England's Lee Westwood and David Howell, Aussie Adam Scott, Argentina's Angel Cabrera, New Zealand's Michael Campbell, South Korean KJ Choi, South African Tim Clark, Sweden's Robert Karlsson, Germany's Bernhard Langer and Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez are among those playing here before moving on to Augusta.

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