DiMarco leads rain shortened day

Tiger Woods threw his hands in the air, smiled and laughed.

His eagle from a bunker on his first hole Friday still wasn't nearly enough to close the big gap between himself and Buick Open leader Chris DiMarco, who is 13 under after an 8-under 64 in the rain-delayed second round.

Woods was 5 under through 15 holes and will be five strokes behind DiMarco on Saturday when he finishes the second round, which was delayed for five hours because of lightning and heavy rain and was later suspended by darkness.

Woods started the day 3 under -- 10 strokes behind DiMarco -- in his final tuneup before playing the PGA Championship in two weeks, his last chance this season to win a major.

David Sutherland and Paul Gow shot 67s and were two shots behind DiMarco, who finished his round in perfect conditions well before the weather delay.

Woods was lining up an 18-foot birdie putt at No. 4 when the weather alarm blared at Warwick Hills forcing players to stop play and fans to seek shelter. He looked up and grinned at a blue sky sprinkled with white clouds.

The PGA Tour decided to call for the delay because a storm was expected to reach the course within 15 minutes. However, it didn't start to rain for about two hours.

"They have got to worry about the spectators and the players," he said.

The delay lasted for another two hours before the players were allowed to start practicing and resume the round.

DiMarco, who began the second round 5 under, fell to 4 under before putting together nine birdies over the next 12 holes.

DiMarco, third in two of the first four Tournaments this year, has seven top-10 finishes and is 14th on the money list. He has won one Tournament in each of the last three seasons.

At the 2001 Buick Open, DiMarco shot a 23-under 265 to finish second to Kenny Perry by two strokes.

"I have a lot of good memories," DiMarco said.

DiMarco knows he can't get comfortable with his lead at Warwick Hills because the short course with true greens is always susceptible to low scores regardless of the conditions.

"I'm going to go out and try to make birdies and play aggressively," he said. "With the rain, the greens are going to stay soft so you can fire at the pins."

Woods got off to a great start at No. 1 while overcoming a difficult lie -- his left foot on grass and his right in the sand -- in a greenside bunker with an eagle from 68 feet.

When his ball trickled down a hill left to right and found its way to the cup, the crowd cheered and a fan yelled: "Good start, Tiger!"

Woods was still smiling while he walked to pick up his ball.

He just missed birdie putts at No. 3, from about 7 feet, and on 5, after the delay. He had three birdies before the round was ended by darkness seconds after Woods parred No. 15.

Woods did not speak to reporters on his way to a car parked near the 16th tee.

Gow made the cut just twice in 11 events this season, including the British Open where he was tied for 33rd, and is No. 216 on the money list. His best career finish came at the 2001 B.C. Open, where he was second.

Sutherland played the first 10 holes 6 under Friday, but had two bogeys the rest of the way. His best finish this year was a tie for 13th at the Shell Houston Open, and his best finish on the PGA Tour was a tie for second in 1997 at the Greater Milwaukee Open.

Mike Sposa, who had the first-round lead at 7 under, was 4 over through 15 holes in the second round.

After players finish the second round, the cut will be made and threesomes will start from both Nos. 1 and 10 in the afternoon.

Nine players were with Woods at 8 under, including U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, Hal Sutton and Perry, who has three wins and three top-10 finishes in his last six Tournaments.

Peter Jacobsen will have trouble making the cut -- projected at 3 under -- after shooting a 69 and getting to even-par 144. The 49-year-old won for the first time since 1995 at last week's Greater Hartford Open.

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