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Even someone like former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy can acknowledge being a bit mesmerized by seeing Tiger Woods win tournament after tournament after tournament.

”It’s quite fun to watch,” Ogilvy said.

Sure, but it doesn’t compare to beating Woods – especially when the world’s No. 1 hasn’t lost in six months.

Ogilvy won the CA Championship on Monday, saving a round that seemed in peril with a chip-in for par at the 13th hole and going on to claim his second victory in a World Golf Championship event. And not only did Ogilvy take down Tiger, he did it at Doral, where Woods had won each of the past three years.

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So much for that perfect-season talk. The streak is over.

”It was going to end at some point,” Ogilvy said. ”I’m very glad that I did it. It’s a nice place to do it, too, because he’s obviously owned this place for the last few years. He just had one of those weeks.”

A final round of 1-under 71 – with nothing but nine pars Monday – was enough for Ogilvy to finish at 17 under, one shot better than Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh, who all closed with 68s in the rain-delayed tournament. Woods was fifth at 15 under, losing for the first time in six PGA Tour starts and seven official ones worldwide, not counting his win at the Target World Challenge.

”As players, it’s nice to see somebody else lift a trophy for a change,” Goosen said.

Calgary’s Stephen Ames finished eight shots off the pace after closing with a 2-under 70. Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont., shot a 1-under 71 and was nine strokes behind.

With the win, Ogilvy joined select company – only Woods (15) and Darren Clarke (two) have more than one WGC title.

”People don’t really understand, you need to have something happen, a positive thing happen to you out there in order to win tournaments,” Woods said. ”I heard Geoff bladed one in the hole for par. That’s what you need to have happen. Those are the things that have happened to me, and things weren’t going that way this week.”

Indeed, Ogilvy got the biggest break at the most crucial time.

Woods started the morning five shots back with seven holes remaining and made his typical charge, closing within two strokes after making a four-footer at the 17th. He birdied the 12th to start his day, then hit his tee shot within a foot at the par-3 15th for a tap-in.

At that very moment, two holes behind, Ogilvy seemed in trouble.

He pulled his two-iron tee shot at the par-3 13th way left, and his chip from thick, dewy grass didn’t even reach the green – making bogey seem probable, until a most improbable shot followed.

Ogilvy’s second chip hopped twice, hit the pin and dropped straight in, giving the Australian a break he desperately needed. If it went past the cup, he surely could have been looking at double bogey – since the ball clearly would have kept rolling for a while.

”That was moving,” Ogilvy said. ”That’s why you have to hit it on line. Flag gets in the way.”

Around the same time that chip dropped in, Ogilvy’s nearest pursuers began falling off.

Singh was the first one to make a run at Ogilvy, getting within a stroke before back-to-back bogeys doomed his chances. Furyk got within one after making birdie at the 17th, then missed the fairway at the finishing hole. Adam Scott started the morning four shots back, then inexplicably missed a two-foot tap-in and lost all hope of making a run.

”Geoff played well,” Singh said. ”He hit a lot of great shots and putted nicely. Somebody had to win, somebody had to lose.”

For a change, Woods was one of those somebodies on the losing side.

It was Woods’ first defeat since Sept. 3, and his perfect start to 2008 begged the ridiculous-sounding question: Could he go unbeaten for an entire year?

”You want to always win every one you play in,” Woods said. ”So you’ve just got to get ready for the next one.”

His next official tournament: the Masters, where Woods’ annual Grand Slam quest will begin.

”I think it’s a great sign, what happened this week, to make that many mistakes and only be two back,” Woods said.

It has come to this: When Woods doesn’t win, it counts as stunning news.

He was less than an even-money favourite before the tournament began, and at least one British bookmaker had Woods at the preposterous odds of 1-to-3 after the second round – when he wasn’t even in the lead.

But since Woods’ surge of late was amazing even by his own standards, why would those oddsmakers expect anything less?

”The chitchat about ‘Is he going to win every golf tournament this year,’ that’s frustrating stuff to hear,” Ogilvy said.

Ogilvy won’t have to hear it anymore.

His last win was the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, the one best remembered by Phil Mickelson‘s final-hole double-bogey collapse that handed Ogilvy the title.

There was some symmetry at Doral, where this week might go down as the week Tiger lost.

”I guess they stopped going in for him this week,” Ogilvy said. ”Yeah, it’s nice.”

Notes:

Woods’ check for US$285,000 put him over the $80-million mark in official earnings. .. Woods was among several players who scurried out quickly to get to Orlando for the afternoon start to the Tavistock Cup, the annual match between pros from the Lake Nona and Isleworth clubs. ”Going to be a long day,” Woods said. .. Goosen’s finish was his best since tying for second at the Masters last year.

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Tiger Woods will need a Sunday charge to keep his winning streak intact.

Geoff Ogilvy remained bogey-free through three rounds of the weather-delayed CA Championship, completing a 4-under 68 on Sunday morning to take a four-shot lead over a slew of challengers at Doral’s Blue Monster.

Ogilvy was 16 under, giving him a cushion over Vijay Singh (63), Graeme Storm (63), Retief Goosen (64), Jim Furyk (64) and Adam Scott (69).

Struggling but still lurking: Woods, who shot even par even as just about every other contender went on a birdie barrage in the third round. He entered the final round at 11 under, and needs a rally if he’s to win his sixth straight PGA Tour event.

“You can see what the scores are, two 64s and two 63s out there,” said Woods, who hasn’t lost since September. “It can be had.”

Canadians Stephen Ames (68) and Mike Weir (67) were tied for 14th, nine strokes behind Ogilvy.

Third-round play was suspended Saturday after heavy rain fell in a three-hour stretch of the afternoon, prompting the delay until Sunday morning. Casual water was still visible in some areas of the course, and forecasters said more rain was possible.

World Golf Championship events are some of Woods’ favourites, given his 15 wins in 26 previous WGCs entering this week.

But Ogilvy looks like the one in total control at Doral.

The Australian picked up Sunday morning exactly where he left off after the first 2 1/2 rounds, making a steady, methodical charge through the Blue Monster. A birdie at the par-4 16th pushed his lead to three, and when Scott – Ogilvy’s countryman and playing partner alongside Woods in the third-round final group – bogeyed the 17th, the margin grew by another stroke.

“It’s nice. I played well,” Ogilvy said. “I hit the ball better this morning probably than I was hitting it yesterday, so maybe the break came at the right time.”

Ogilvy’s pursuers would obviously be aided if the leader, who hasn’t won on tour since capturing the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, dropped the occasional shot here or there.

So far, that’s simply not happening. His cards so far: 38 pars, 16 birdies, no bad mistakes.

“I don’t know how to explain that,” said Ogilvy, who tied for third at Doral last year. “Putting well helps.”

He wasn’t the only one putting well.

Furyk’s Sunday started with a 50-foot birdie at the 14th, ensuring that he wouldn’t lose momentum he gleaned Saturday. Singh finished his best-ever Doral round with a 20-foot birdie at the last, which likely made him forget the seven-footer he missed on the previous hole. Goosen also made birdie at the 18th, adding his name to the logjam in second place.

“I got myself back in the hunt,” Furyk said.

Woods is still there, too, although if he’s going to win, he’ll need to match his biggest comeback ever after 54 holes. He was five shots back at Pebble Beach entering the final round in 2000.

“I had four harsh lip-outs. That’s the difference,” Woods said. “Those go in, I’m only one back. But that’s not the case, they didn’t go in and I’ve got a little bit of work to do.”

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Tiger Woods kept his head down as the rain fell harder and never broke stride as he followed a series of winding stairs and back doors, each step taking him farther from the Blue Monster. A security guard politely asked for an autograph, and Woods reached for a pen and forced a smile.

A tough day at the office.

He shot 67 and was two shots off the lead Thursday at the CA Championship.

Woods hasn’t lost a tournament since September, a streak that includes six official victories around the world, the last title coming four days ago with a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Bay Hill.

Apparently, he’s working on another streak – the endless pursuit of perfection.

Woods was poised to catch Geoff Ogilvy and Miguel Angel Jimenez, each of whom opened at 7-under 65, until he missed a seven-foot birdie putt on the 16th and three-putted the 18th hole from 70 feet, missing the last one from five feet.

Someone asked if the three-putt bothered him.

”Yeah, I’m (ticked),” Woods said with a cold glare. ”You three-putt 18, you’re not going to be happy.”

Strange, because it was Ogilvy who referred to the Blue Monster at Doral as a ”happy place,” for Woods, and that’s ordinarily the case. He has won here the last two years, and won this World Golf Championship six times in eight years.

For most, it was a shift in the wind that brought joy.

After practice rounds in ferocious wind, so severe that Ogilvy didn’t even bother playing on Wednesday, it made a slow shift to favourable conditions, allowing for all but two dozen players in the 79-man field to break par.

Ogilvy got off to a strong start in one respect. He’s ahead of Woods.

The former U.S. Open champion is savvy enough to know that golf is about beating the course better than anyone else, but these times call for slight adjustments. Woods has become the most dominant player this side of World War II.

”You know starting the week if you want to win the tournament, you’re going to have to beat him because you know he’s going to be in contention come the last nine holes here on Sunday,” Ogilvy said. ”It’s just one of his happy places, obviously. If I can just be one in front after every round, that will be pretty good.”

Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont., and Calgary’s Stephen Ames each shot a 73 to leave them tied for 56th.

One shot out of the lead was Stewart Cink, who has played in the final group at three tournaments this year and is playing more consistently than anyone but Woods.

Woods wasn’t all that bad, he just sounded that way.

”I didn’t really do anything all that special today,” Woods said. ”I just kind of hung in there and took care of the par 5s, and made a couple of other birdies here and there. But all in all, just kind of ground it out.”

If it wasn’t anything spectacular and he still was only two shots bad, that would seem to bode ominously for the rest of the 78 players gathered at Doral for this World Golf Championship.

But there was a sense after one day that no one was going to lay down.

Phil Mickelson rallied from a double bogey in the water with four birdies over his final six holes to match Woods at 67, and they were joined by Adam Scott, who is No. 5 in the world and won the Qatar Masters earlier this year with a 61 on the last day.

Four days after slamming his cap to the ground to celebrate a 25-foot birdie putt to win at Bay Hill, he rarely broke a smile. Woods started strongly, with an easy two-putt birdie on the par-5 opening hole and a 20-foot birdie down the fast green at No. 3. He made birdie on two other par 5s, one by missing an eagle putt from 20 feet, the other with a wedge inside a foot.

His longest putt was a mere 18 feet on the par-3 15th, and Woods had a chance to join the leaders when he blasted a tee shot into the front bunker on the 366-yard 16th hole, only to miss from 7 feet.

”I’ve got to trust what I see,” Woods said, referring to the grain in these Bermuda greens. ”I didn’t do that enough times today.”

Ogilvy felt much better as he continues a slow rise back to form. He has not won since his U.S. Open victory at Winged Foot in 2006, and he took a month off around the holidays when his second child was born.

But he played in the final group at Innisbrook two weeks ago, closed with a 66 at Bay Hill to leave on a positive note, then kept the ball in the short grass for most of a cloudy day in south Florida to tie Jimenez, a Spaniard making his debut at Doral.

”It’s definitely been building,” Ogilvy said. ”I came here feeling better than I did going to Bay Hill, and I went to Bay Hill feeling better than I did when I went to Tampa.”

He was back in his room after Bay Hill in time watch Woods birdie the last hole from 25 feet for the win.

”It’s never surprising when he holes it, but it’s always impressive,” Ogilvy said. ”We’re all impressed. Hopefully, none of us are scared. I just want to win tournaments, and he’s very impressive. But I don’t go to bed thinking about it.”

Cink, meanwhile, is trying to bury memories of a few close calls. Woods manhandled him in the Accenture Match Play Championship, winning by a record margin (8 and 7) in the final round. Two weeks later, Cink had an early four-shot lead in Tampa until a late collapse paved the way for Sean O’Hair.

”The memories linger from that,” Cink said. ”I gave it away, but I learned from it. It’s part of the process. Let me just say that not everybody out here isTiger Woods, OK? He’s making it look easy. And it’s not easy.”

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There are 78 players at this World Golf Championship, and one guy playing out of this world.

Tiger Woods is winning at a rate not seen in more than a half-century. Bay Hill was his sixth straight victory around the world among official tournaments, and he is the three-time defending champion this week at the CA Championship.

“He inhales so many wins that there’s not much breathing room for the rest of us,” Stewart Cink said.

Even a player lined up to get his autograph Wednesday.

Boo Weekley stood behind the 18th green as Woods and Jim Furyk finished an abbreviated practice round at Doral in 30 mph wind. He was holding two flags, from the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which Woods won with a 25-foot birdie on the last hole; and from the Accenture Match Play Championship, which Woods won by a record 8-and-7 margin in the final round.

It was for charity, although the scene spoke volumes.

There is a sense of awe among Woods’ peers during a stretch of golf that rivals Byron Nelson’s golden season of 1945, when he won 11 straight events and 18 out of 30. And there is determination not to let this domination continue.

“It’s a great time to be playing,” Adam Scott said. “It’s awfully hard to beat him, but he doesn’t play every week. I know he’s winning all the time, but he doesn’t win every week, either.”

Then the 27-year-old Australian paused long enough that he couldn’t contain a wry smile.

“There’s no proof of that,” Scott said. “But we’ll try to change it this week.”

The bookmakers don’t like the chances of the other 78 guys on the Blue Monster at Doral. Woods was listed as a 2-3 favorite on one Web site, staggering odds for a sport in which players have no control over the competition and the hole is only 4 1/2 inches in diameter.

Next in line is Phil Mickelson at 15-1.

There’s a reason for that. Woods has won at Doral the last three years, the first two when it was a full-field PGA Tour event. He has won this World Golf Championship six of eight years, the first five when it was called the American Express Championship and played around the world. His two-shot victory last year made him the first player to win the same event on six golf courses.

And there is no indication that Woods is about to let up.

Walking down the eighth fairway, caddie Steve Williams was asked how he spent Monday after Bay Hill.

“Practice,” he said as he kept walking.

What about Tuesday?

“Practice,” Williams said, adding after a few more steps, “but not as much.”

Woods might be the only guy not wrapped up in his streak, the longest he has gone in his career without losing. He counts it as seven, including his unofficial Target World Challenge against a field of 16. But everything is geared toward four weeks a year, starting next month at the Masters.

“You can win every tournament for the entire year, but if you go 0-for-4 in major championships . you don’t really get remembered for the number of wins in a career,” he said. “It’s the number of wins in major championships. Those are the biggest events. It you win one major a year, it turns a good year into a great one.”

Woods did not show up at Doral until the sun cast a pink glow Wednesday morning, and when he stepped to the first tee, he turned to agent Mark Steinberg and said, “Should I take a practice swing? Nah.”

Then he ripped a tee shot with a severe hook, turned back and said with a grin, “Should have taken a practice swing.”

Woods and Furyk played the first 10 holes, then walked over to play the 18th because the wind was so severe. It was hard to find anyone who played 18 holes in such conditions. They were so tough that Furyk hit a beautiful tee shot on the 467-yard closing hole, and when he got to his ball, he quickly found a sprinkler head to get his yardage.

He was still so far from the green that the sprinkler had no number on it. Woods, meanwhile, hammered a tee shot and still had to hit a 3-wood to land just short and to the right of the green.

Wind really is the only defence on the Blue Monster, which is framed by white bunkers on every hole.

The defence against Woods? Still to be determined.

Bart Bryant held his own at Bay Hill until Woods made one putt on the final hole. Sean O’Hair was two shots behind after playing in the final group with Woods for the first time. He said he did not watch Woods until his final putt.

“I think you can kind of get taken back a little bit,” O’Hair said. “As much as I admire him, his game and what he does for our sport, I’ve also got to compete against the guy. I respect the guy, but I also want to beat his brains in when I’m on the golf course. We’re all aware of how good he is. But it’s not like we’re laying down.”

Scott has played in the final group with Woods only once, six shots behind, so that was hardly a fair fight. Scott arrived in Florida on Saturday and watched Woods birdie the two toughest holes at Bay Hill to wind up in a five-way tie for the lead.

“It seems like everyone crumbles around him,” Scott said. “But Bart didn’t last week. A lot of times, Tiger does incredible stuff to win.”

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Sean O’Hair felt as if he was doing everything required of a winner except winning.

Despite long hours on the practice range, he found himself toward the bottom of the leaderboard, if he even made the cut. A weekend off at the Honda Classic last week gave him ample time to visit with his father-in-law, and the message finally got through.

“He told me how he believed in me, how he felt I was on the right track, and if I started believing in myself, everything would happen,” O’Hair said Sunday after winning the PODS Championship.

“I didn’t believe him. But I guess he was right.”

It required solid play, two good pars and a birdie putt that O’Hair described as the best of his career. But he also needed a meltdown from Stewart Cink, who lost four shots in four holes and couldn’t figure out what he did wrong.

The 25-year-old O’Hair took advantage of a collapse by Cink to energize his young career with his second PGA Tour victory, closing with a 2-under 69 for a two-shot victory that earned him a trip to the Masters and a spot in the US$8 million World Golf Championship at Doral.

“This is not going to hurt my confidence,” said O’Hair, who finished at 4-under 280. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”

Cink had a tee shot stop next to a tree that led to bogey on a par 5, missed a 4-foot birdie on the next hole, then followed that with a tee shot into the water at the 16th. He wound up with a 74 to finish in a six-way tie for second.

“I’m a little shell-shocked and a little bit angry,” Cink said. “I’m extremely frustrated after this. What happened to me – what I allowed to happen to me – is going to make me a better player in the future. But I’ve got some soul-searching to do.”

For O’Hair, a big celebration is in order.

He hadn’t won since 2005, when he was a rookie and golf felt easy. He had fallen to No. 75 in the world and had no plans the second week of April. But his victory moved him into the top 40 in the world, making him eligible for Doral and Augusta National.

“When I won (the first time), it just kind of happened,” O’Hair said, wiping tears from his eyes. “I didn’t really appreciate it. I thought I was good enough to do this every year. But it’s been such a struggle to get to this point again. This is awesome, and I’m going to enjoy it.”

Cink suffered a loss perhaps even more devastating than the Accenture Match Play Championship blowout against Tiger Woods.

Cink had a four-shot lead after birdies on the first two holes, and he still had the lead going to the back nine. But he missed a simple birdie on the 12th, three-putted from long range on the 13th, and looked up to the sunny skies in utter disbelief when he found his ball nestled up against a pine on the 14th.

“I didn’t feel like I made any real mistakes,” Cink said. “When I saw my ball up against the tree on 14, I was starting to wonder if this wasn’t my day. I was a little bit shocked. But I put myself in that position.”

He made a 50-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole that allowed him to join a six-way tie for second.

John Senden closed with a 67 and was a runner-up for the second straight year, both times finishing about an hour before the leaders. He tied for second with Cink (74), Ryuji Imada (68), George McNeill (69), Troy Matteson (69) and Billy Mayfair (72).

Cink is winless since the 2004 Bridgestone Invitational. This was the third time in five tournaments he has played in the final group.

The Copperhead Course played nearly two shots over par, making it the toughest track on tour this year. O’Hair’s winning score of 280 was the highest ever at Innisbrook. But he was the only player to shoot par or better all four rounds, and he saved his best for Sunday.

He got into the mix with a birdie on the opening hole. His chip from behind the 11th green to tap-in range for birdie pulled him within one shot. Then came a couple of par putts in the 4- to 5-foot range, to stay in the lead.

After a 7-iron to 30 feet below the cup on the 15th, O’Hair raised his arm when it dropped in the centre of the cup.

“One of the best putts I’ve ever hit in my life,” he said. “With 10 feet to go, I knew it was in the hole. From there, I was just trying not to throw up on myself.”

O’Hair is among only seven players in their 20s with multiple PGA Tour victories, and his future again looks bright.

For Cink, he could only wonder when the lessons would pay off. He is 1-8 with at least a share of the 54-hole lead.

“That’s not a coincidence,” he said. “I tend to be less aggressive with my putting. It’s like I’m a little bit tentative.”

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Stewart Cink played the last of his 28 holes Saturday in near darkness, eager to finish a long day in the toughest conditions the PGA Tour has seen this year.

Even after his lone bogey in the third round for a 2-under 69, he couldn’t wait to get started Sunday.

Playing in 50 kph wind at the PODS Championship for the better part of 12 hours, Cink’s fortunes turned quickly when he ran of three straight birdies and went from four shots down to a two-shot lead that likely puts him in the final group for the third time this year.

He was at 5-under 208, two shots ahead of former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy.

Calgary’s Stephen Ames was 1-over par after seven holes when play was halted. He finished with a 74 on Saturday for a 145 total. Jon Mills of Oshawa, Ont., shot a 78 on Friday for a 7-over par, 149 total.

Brandt Snedeker, who had a four-shot lead until his momentum changed on a three-putt from 12 feet, was at 3 under and had three holes to play.Billy Mayfair also was at 3 under playing the 16th hole when darkness suspended the third round.

Only nine players remained under par. The tournament is still up for grabs.

”I’ve got to keep pushing,” Cink said. ”My goal is to give no one a chance tomorrow.”

That sounds like the M.O. from Tiger Woods, and Cink knows that all too well. He was in the last group at Torrey Pines with Woods, albeit eight shots behind. And Cink was in the final at the Accenture Match Play Championship, which Woods won by a record margin for the final match, 8 and 7.

”I’ve seen him do that,” Cink said, ”and it looks like it’s a lot of fun.”

Even better? Woods has the week off.

”When the cat’s away ..” Cink said.

He rarely sets goals for himself, but decided this year to aim for getting into contention more often. This will be his second good chance at winning in five events, so he’s off to a good start.

”That’s a step in the right direction,” said Cink, who hasn’t won since Firestone in 2004.

Cink had no problem with fatigue. He played 32 holes on Saturday of the Match Play (winning twice), and played 29 holes in the final match against Woods. But neither of those days featured such a vicious wind on an Innisbrook course that requires so much thought.

He had to think twice about his wedge from pampas grass on the 10th, playing left of the flag because it presented the best opening. It came out perfectly to 30 feet, and he holed the putt for the first of three straight birdies.

The next leaderboard he saw was on the 14th hole, and he wasn’t surprised.

”One gust can mean two shots. It’s as simple as that,” Cink said.

In Snedeker’s case, three putts meant a total loss of momentum.

He was at 7 under, leading by four, and had a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 eighth. But he three-putted for bogey, hit into the trees on the right at No. 9 for another bogey, three-putted the 13th, and suddenly was two shots behind.

”I’m disappointed with two three-putts on the par 3s. They were both stupid, boneheaded mistakes, but those are going to happen,” Snedeker said. ”You’ve got to be patient. I’m still right there.”

Sean O’Hair and Tom Pernice Jr. each shot 71 and were at 2-under 211. The nine players under par included defending champion Mark Calcavecchia, who was 1 under with two holes to play.

Cink had to play 28 holes Saturday, none of them easy.

The wind was raging at dawn and never let until the final minutes of daylight, so strong that players who were hitting a 9-iron into the 18th green in the opening round were pulling 3-iron or more on Saturday. The average score for the second round was 74.5. Once the cut was made – the first cut, anyway – the field average for the third round was headed for about 74.

Seventy-nine players made the cut, activating the week-old amendment to the PGA Tour’s cut policy. Because more than 78 players made the cut, a second cut to the top 70 and ties was to be made after third round.

That knocked out eight players, who will receive official, last-place money. And some might be glad to be leaving. Kevin Streelman made only seven pars in his round of 84. Jason Gore and Charles Warren each shot 81.

”It played hard – I played hard,” Kevin Sutherland said after a hard-earned 70 left him in a tie for seventh, only four shots behind.

The cut was at 3-over 145, the highest ever at Innisbrook.

The highest 54-hole lead until this week was 9-under 204, a mark that will be shattered.

Ogilvy was asked to go over his birdies, bogeys and any good par saves he made. That brought a wry smile to the Australian.

”Every hole you make par is a great save,” he said.

Wind this strong exposes the slightest mistake, and it was hard to find anything wrong with Snedeker. When he returned Saturday morning to complete the second round, he hit six straight greens to move up the leaderboard, and when he finally missed the ninth green to the left, he chipped in for birdie and a 68 to take the lead.

Then, he was even better in the afternoon.

As just about everyone else was dropping shots around him, Snedeker birdied the par-5 fifth from 6 feet, then holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the seventh to build a four-shot lead. The margin looked as though it might get even larger on the next hole, the par-3 eighth, when he hit his tee shot into 12 feet.

Three putts later, everything changed.

”Two bad bogeys in a row, and I started to lose momentum,” he said.

Ogilvy took a while to shake off rust from staying home after the Jan. 7 birth of his son, but he is finding his groove. He birdie putts inside 10 feet on four straight holes, making two of them, and wound up with a great chance Sunday.

”You know the rust is coming off when it’s tough and you play,” he said.

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The wind was blowing hard enough to sweep sand out of the bunkers and knock down scores Friday at the PODS Championship. Jeff Maggert used it to his advantage.

Starting his second round with the wind at his back, Maggert birdied three of his opening four holes and hung on long enough to be leading by three shots at the turn when play was suspended for the rest of the day because of storms.

Maggert was at 8-under par, three shots ahead of Kenny Perry and D.J. Trahan. For the second straight day, none of the late starters came close to finishing the round.

”I’ve only played 27 holes,” Maggert said. ”I’ve got a lot of the tournament in front of me. Even though I have the lead now, I’m not really looking at my position. I’m just trying to play solid and give myself an opportunity to finish off this round with a good score.”

About 15 minutes after the siren sounded to stop play, the sky opened and dumped even more rain on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook. That might not be a bad thing, for softer greens at least gave players a fighting chance.

”At least it’s not cold yet,” said Mark Calcavecchia, the defending champion who shot a 1-under 70 and was tied for the clubhouse lead at 3-under 139 with two-time U.S. Open championLee Janzen (74), Billy Mayfair (71), Stuart Appleby (73) and Paul Casey (72).

Calgary’s Stephen Ames was 1-over par after seven holes when play was halted, following a 71 on Thursday. Jon Mills of Oshawa, Ont., shot a 78 on Friday to go 7-over par.

Only three players among the early starters managed to break 70, with Tim Petrovic and Kevin Sutherland leading the way at 68.

Everyone braced for scores to tumble in the afternoon, so it was a surprise to see Maggert play as though this were the Bob Hope Classic on a calm day in the desert.

Along with getting the good end of the draw, however, Maggert started his second round on the right side of the course.

He holed an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 first hole, then hit driver with the wind at his back 324 yards, leaving him a simple pitch from 78 yards to 5 feet for another birdie. His first big test was the par-3 fourth, which played into the wind. Maggert hammered a 4-iron that fed to the middle of the green, from where he holed an 18-foot birdie.

Others were long gone by then.

Ernie Els, coming off a victory last week in the Honda Classic, birdied his last two holes to salvage a 73, leaving him at 4-over 146 and likely to miss the cut.

”It’s very tough, demanding golf,” he said. ”I didn’t quite have it.”

Davis Love III was 3 under for his first three holes until he started giving shots back, shooting 72 to miss the cut for the second time since returning from ankle surgery.

Six players failed to break 80, including David Toms (81), which might end up costing him a spot in the World Golf Championship in two weeks at Doral.

John Daly also shot 80 for the first time this year.

Janzen, winless since his second U.S. Open title 10 years ago at Olympic Club, played 21 holes on Friday. He returned in the morning to finish his first round, hitting a 3-iron off the pine needles to 20 feet for birdie on the tough 16th to catch first-round leader Bart Bryant at 6-under 65. The next 18 holes were more of a struggle.

The layers of clouds moved quickly over the course behind 45 km/h wind, the kind that exposes the slightest mistakes. Janzen is playing better, but the wind showed him he’s not quite there yet. He made five bogeys, but cobbled enough birdies together to stay in the hunt.

”It’s an extreme challenge to play in the wind,” he said. ”As the round went on, I didn’t quite have my game. I was hoping to run out of holes quick.”

Calcavecchia also had a long day with mixed results, starting with a chip-in for eagle on the 14th hole of his first round in the morning, hanging on for dear life later in the morning to complete his second round. The wind got so strong that he barely cleared the large pond in front of the tee on the par-5 fifth, and he made fun of short-hitting Corey Pavin for waiting on a lull to get over the water.

”That’s the only way he could clear the water,” Calcavecchia said.

A year ago, Calcavecchia narrowly made the cut, then shot 62 in the third round that carried him to victory.

”There won’t be any 62s today or tomorrow,” he said.

Not even the temperature?

”Maybe a 52 with the wind chill,” he said.

A cold front was due, along with more wind, and several players already spent a week in the wind at the Honda Classic.

The 71 players who didn’t finish the second round were to return at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, and no telling what the weather was going to do. Janzen and Calcavecchia had no idea where 3 under would leave them going into the third round, only that they wouldn’t be far off.

”It’s difficult to say whether you get the good side of the draw or the bad side,” Casey said. ”But it’s nice to come out here this morning and just get it done. I’m very, very happy to get in the clubhouse and watch these guys go through what I went through today.”

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