A confident Clarke had moved to six under par as the sun finally broke through at Augusta National early in the afternoon on a day when organizers hoped most of the players would complete 36 holes to make up for lost time due to the weather.

Woods, bidding for an unprecedented third consecutive green jacket at Augusta National, bogeyed the first, the fourth and the fifth and was four over par with four holes to play.

It could have been even worse for the dispirited world number one had he not produced a superb recovery at the relatively straightforward par-four opening hole where the 27-year-old American overhit his approach.

He then chipped his third shot through the green and duffed his fourth before avoiding a double bogey in spectacular fashion by chipping in from 35 feet.

First-round play was washed out on Thursday for the first time in 64 years at the Masters and Ulsterman Clarke, who teed off at the 10th on Friday, got off to a mixed start, an opening birdie followed by a bogey five at the 490-yard 11th.

But the 34-year-old, whose best Masters finish was a tie for eighth in 1998, then birdied 12 and 13 before eagling the 500-yard 15th to move to the top of the leader board at four under.

Clarke was twice caught by Spaniard Garcia, who birdied four of his first seven holes, but the Northern Irishman regained the outright lead by hitting his approach at the par-four third to just three feet for his fifth birdie of the day.

Garcia, who birdied the par-five second, was five under after 15 holes.

David Toms, the 2001 U.S. PGA champion, was a further two shots back after 15 holes, level with Canadian left-hander Mike Weir, after 14.

Multiple major winner Nick Price was the leader in the clubhouse, after firing a two-under-par 70 in what he described as "really wet conditions."

Also at two under was American Ricky Barnes, the U.S. amateur champion playing the first two rounds at Augusta with Woods, who had four holes to play.

Twice U.S. PGA champion Price, who also won the 1994 British Open, was the initial player to make an impact when the year's first major finally got under way 24 hours late.

He reeled off birdies at the par-five second and the 350-yard third before he slipped back to one under with a bogey-four at the short fourth.

Although the former world number one dropped his second shot of the day at the par-four fifth, he bounced back with further birdies on six and seven to reach the turn in 34.

British Open champion Ernie Els, the world number two, was one of the late starters on Friday, but got off to a poor start on the more difficult second nine with bogeys at the first two holes.

Despite collecting rare birdies on 15 and 17, the big-hitting South African dropped further shots on 14, 16, 18, three and five before a double-bogey five at the 180-yard sixth left him at seven over with three to play.

Although the sun broke out early in the afternoon, the rain-drenched course was playing to its full 7,290 yards and some of the older players in the field faced an uphill struggle.

Tommy Aaron, the 1973 champion, battled his way to a 19-over-par 91 while playing partner Charles Coody, winner in 1971, returned a 83.

"Without a doubt, this is the longest I've seen the course play and the most difficult I've seen it play," said Coody. "People like Tommy and myself, we're fighting an uphill battle out there."

Four-times champion Arnold Palmer carded an 11-over-par 83 while six-times winner Jack Nicklaus was 11 over with one hole to play.

Almost four inches of rain have soaked the par-72 layout since Sunday and organizers arranged a two-tee start in a bid to get the weather-battered tournament back on schedule by Saturday.

The second round started from 1400 ET (1730 GMT) on Friday, also off both tees, in the hope that 36 holes can be played in the day.

The last time 36 holes were played in one day at Augusta was in 1939, when Ralph Guldahl edged out Sam Snead by a shot to claim his first and only Green Jacket.