Brooks & Gogel lead into Monday

His hopes hanging on a cliff, Tiger Woods made a great escape today in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Now all he needs is a great comeback to catch Matt Gogel and Mark Brooks for his sixth straight PGA Tour victory.

On another bizarre day at Pebble Beach -- a weather delay under gorgeous sunshine because of fog on another course -- Gogel made birdies from all the wrong places for a 5-under-par 67 that gave him a share of the lead at 12-under 204.

It will be the second time in three weeks that Gogel, the career leader in Nike Tour victories but a rookie on the PGA Tour, will be in the final group.

For Brooks, it's his best chance to win since the PGA Championship in 1996. Brooks had a 6-under 66 at Poppy Hills, the easiest of the three courses.

Vijay Singh was another stroke back after an even-par 72 at Spyglass Hill, where his round was suspended for 1 1/2 hours because of fog.

Woods, trying to become the first player since Ben Hogan in 1948 to win six consecutive PGA Tour events, wound up with a 4-under 68 and was at 209, five strokes out of the lead.

"I feel as though I have a chance, but it depends on the conditions," Woods said. "If it's ugly, I'm in great shape. If it's calm, it's going to be tough to make that many birdies."

Notah Begay has seen enough of Woods from their days at Stanford University to know that five strokes is not too much to make up, especially if the weather helps out.

"I know Matt might be hearing footsteps behind him," said Begay, who had a 72 at Spyglass and was two strokes back at 206.

Jim Furyk had an 8-under 64 at Pebble and was tied with Woods at 209.

Woods's largest final-round comeback on the PGA Tour is four strokes -- at Las Vegas in 1996 and the Mercedes Championships in 1997, both won in playoffs. At the Mercedes, however, the final round was the third because the fourth round was cancelled because of rain. His greatest comeback ever was eight strokes against Ernie Els in the 1998 Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand, also won in a playoff.

During his five-tournament winning streak, he has been no worse than one stroke behind going into the final round, at the American Express Championship in Spain. He had or shared the lead after 54 holes in all four of the other wins in the streak.

Woods headed straight to the practice green after his round to work with coach Butch Harmon, hundreds of fans standing three-deep around the green to watch him.

His 68 at calm, picturesque Pebble Beach could have been a lot better -- Woods missed five birdie putts inside 15 feet.

It also could have been much, much worse.

After a 34-minute delay because of the fog at Spyglass, Woods approach over the ocean on No. 8 came up short, and a five-member search team was lucky to find the ball in grass 10 inches deep in the hazard.

"I saw it was a golf ball," he said. "I could see the 'R' in my name."

A regular stance would have risked him tumbling down the 50-foot hill that leads to the rocky shore. He planted his feet firmly but awkwardly, slashed at the tall weeds and popped the ball out to 20 feet.

He missed the putt and made bogey, but he stayed in the game.

Nothing came easily to Gogel, who started his round on No. 10. He made a 35-footer on No. 12 for his first birdie, then got into trouble on the par-5 14th and had a 5-iron into the green on his third shot. He went left of the green, then proceeded to chip in for birdie.

He also faced trouble on the par-5 sixth, when his drive found the left round and his approach failed to make it all the way up the hill. He blasted out of the rough from 137 yards away into 10 feet for another birdie.

Forecasters believe the weather will cooperate for the final 18 holes Monday, which would be only the second 72-hole tournament at Pebble Beach in the past five years. If that's the case, Gogel hopes he has learned his lessons.

One stroke out of the lead in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic two weeks ago, he played it safe and was left in the desert dust, finishing in a tie for seventh.

"It was like being in the Indy 500 watch cars go by you," he said. "Conditions are soft here at Pebble with the weather. I would be surprised if anything less than 14-under wins."

Among those at 208 was Jay Williamson, who had a 69 at Pebble Beach for his sixth consecutive round under par in this tournament, the longest active streak.

David Duval bogeyed the 18th hole at Pebble Beach for a 75. At 1-over 217, he missed the cut by one stroke.

Brooks has not finished in the top three since his first and only major championship at Valhalla in '96. He declined to meet with reporters after his round at Poppy.

Woods hit his approach into about 2 feet on No. 16, but he missed birdie putts of 8 and 10 feet on the last two holes. Still five strokes back, his play commands attention.

"I'd feel a lot easier if he was about 2-under," Gogel said. "But you expect him to be that close. You know he's going to put on a charge. I can't control what Tiger is going to do. I'm going to have enough worries on my own just handling myself in the final group."

DIVOTS: Instead of letting cable show the final round Monday, CBS Sports has decided to broadcast it live. It's the first time a network has offered live coverage of a regular PGA Tour event on Monday. ... No one felt the effects of slow play quite like Duval and Tom Pernice Jr., who played without amateurs today. AT&T chairman Mike Armstrong had a sore shoulder, and General Electric CEO Jack Welch decided he should get back to work. "We need a deck of cards," Duval said while waiting about 10 minutes to tee off on the second hole. ... Among those in the gallery today was Jerry Higginbotham, the deposed caddie of Mark O'Meara and Sergio Garcia.

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