Howell takes narrow advantage into weekend

Charles Howell III realized par would be an acceptable score at windy East Lake and he did one better, posting a 69 on Friday for a one-stroke lead in the Tour Championship.

Howell finished with eight pars and was at 5-under 135 heading into the weekend, one stroke ahead of David Toms, Steve Lowery, Len Mattiace and Vijay Singh.

Howell, one of 10 players making his debut in the season-ending tournament for the top 30 on the money list, made bogey after hitting two of his best drives and didn't feel as though his score was as good as it could have been.

Then again, the swirling wind turned cooler as long shadows fell across East Lake, the greens began to dry out and got quicker on every hole and the 23-year-old knew that anything around par would be a good day at the office.

"Birdies are hard to come by," Howell said. "Every time I made a birdie, I tried to hang on as much as I could."

Mattiace was hanging on for dear life at the end of his round.

He was tied for the lead on the par-3 18th when he hit a 3-wood into the bunker, followed by a sand iron that looked like it might go nearly as far.

Mattiace caught the bunker shot thin and it sailed over the green and momentarily out of sight. The ball clanged off the top of the corporate tents surrounding the 18th and caromed back to the short grass leading up to the green, 15 yards from where he started.

He got up-and-down from 85 feet to save his bogey and wound up with a 68. No telling what would have happened without those corporate tents.

"In a way, I got very lucky," Mattiace said.

He was due. This is the guy who took an 8 on the island-green 17th hole at The Players Championship three years ago in the final round.

Toms had the best score of the day, a bogey-free 66 and earned a spot in the final twosome with Howell on Saturday. The former PGA champion has been playing as well as anyone lately, but can't seem to get a win for all his great scoring - 47-under par in the last two tournaments.

"I'm pleased with the way my game is," Toms said. "If I can hang in there when I hit bad shots and recover like I did today, I'll be fine."

Tiger Woods is hanging around, too.

Despite consecutive bogeys at the turn, Woods finished with a 68 and was at 139, just four strokes out of the lead.

The worst of his round was on the par-5 ninth, when he hit a bunker shot over the green, putted with his 3-wood about 15 feet past the hole and walked off with one of only six bogeys on that hole Friday.

"I wanted to get under par," he said. "To end up under par, I'm right in the ball game."

Join the crowd.

Nineteen players were within six strokes of the lead going into the weekend, and except for Rocco Mediate (7 over), only 10 shots separated top to bottom.

Some of that is East Lake, which has thick rough with plenty of muscle and slick greens with ridges and subtle contours that make it difficult to get close to the hole.

Most of it is the wind.

"When it's windy like this, it's really hard to go low," Woods said. "When you're near the lead, in conditions like this you're not going to try to take chances."

Lowery had a 71, while Singh birdied the 232-yard closing hole for the second straight day to finish at 71 and wind up one stroke out of the lead.

"I just tried to be very patient," Singh said. "I know it's a four-day tournament, and even three or four shots off the lead is not going to be that bad. Luckily, I'm one off."

Chris DiMarco bogeyed his final two holes for a 68 and was in the group at 138 that included Retief Goosen (69) and Fred Funk (71).

Howell's goal at the start of the year was to get into the Tour Championship. He made that a higher priority than winning his first tournament. He came to East Lake having accomplished both, a winner in the Michelob Championship.

He's making the most of the occasion.

Howell held his round together around the turn, holing a 12-foot par putt on No. 8, making a 20-footer from the fringe for birdie on 9, then following a bogey on 10 with two more par saves.

He still is only halfway home to a $900,000 prize and a victory against the best players of the year, but Howell is starting to look like he belongs.

"I believe that I can win it," he said. "Will I? I don't know. There's still 36 more holes left. If I don't, it won't be for lack of effort."

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