England&aposs Lee Westwood dropped out of contention at the top of the leaderboard in the Houston Open as Stuart Appleby headed a field of six players on six-under-par after the second round. Westwood shot 75 to end the day five shots adrift on one under – two shots further off the lead than he was after the first round. Instead, Appleby, who carded 66 in the first round, had to sign for an even-par 72 in his second round, joining Bubba Watson (67), Bob Estes (71), Jason Gore (68), D.J. Brigman (68) and Jeff Maggert (71) in the leading pack. Appleby opened with a 66 last year and cruised to a wire-to-wire victory in an event he also won in 1999. That will not be the case this time around for the Australian, who had not broken 70 in 20 rounds prior to Thursday. Appleby tied for 13th at the season-opening Mercedes Championship but has finished no better than 33rd and missed a pair of cuts in six events since. He also won here in 1999. Second-year pro Watson is seeking his first career PGA title. He finished tied for fourth at the Buick Invitational in January and has two top-10 finishes in eight starts this season. Meanwhile, World No.5 Adam Scott (71) is just two shots off the pace at four-under-par, while compatriot Stephen Leaney is a further stroke behind at three-under-par. Scores after second round of Houston Open: (par 72) -6: Bob Estes 67 71, Jason Gore 70 68, D.J. Brigman 70 68, Bubba Watson 71 67, Stuart Appleby (Australia) 66 72, Jeff Maggert 67 71 -5: Hunter Mahan 68 71, Tommy Armour III 68 71, Tom Byrum 71 68 -4: K.J. Choi 70 70, Daniel Chopra 68 72, Tim Clark 70 70, Paul Stankowski 69 71, Adam Scott (Australia) 69 71, Justin Leonard 67 73 -3: Stephen Leaney (Australia) 70 71, Joey Sindelar 70 71, Bernhard Langer 71 70, Sean O&aposHair 70 71, Alex Cejka 72 69, Ryuji Imada 71 70, Jonathan Byrd 69 72, David Branshaw 70 71, Ryan Armour 71 70, Kevin Sutherland 66 75, Steve Stricker 68 73, Arron Oberholser 70 71, Vaughn Taylor 67 74, Bo Van Pelt 71 70, Robert Garrigus 69 72, John Mallinger 69 72 Also: -1: John Senden (Australia) 71 72, Gavin Coles (Australia) 74 69 E: Mathew Goggin (Australia) 74 70 +1: Steve Allan (Australia) 73 72 +2: Peter Lonard (Australia) 72 74 +3: Jarrod Lyle (Australia) 75 72 +4: Steve Elkington (Australia) 77 71 +11: Paul Gow (Australia) 76 79, Michael Campbell (NZ) 80 75
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