The Masters 2006

The sun finally broke through the clouds at Augusta National on Saturday and while it didn't do that much to dry up the rain, Chad Campbell's lead started to shrink.

Play was suspended due to rain for more than four hours and when it finally resumed a mad dash for the top of the leaderboard broke out.

Rocco Mediate and Tim Clark are tied for second at 5-under. Clark hit his tee shot on the par-3 sixth before play was suspended and it was a good one. His first shot Sunday will be a four-foot birdie putt for a share of the lead.

Clark fired three birdies in his first five holes while Mediate, playing with Campbell, birdied Nos. 2 and 4.

"I couldn't be more pleased with my start," Clark said. "I hit some really good shots and could be even a few more under-par. The way I'm playing certainly bodes well for tomorrow."

Clark and Mediate were hardly the only players to make moves on Saturday. A total of 11 golfers are within four shots of the lead including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Fred Couples.

The defending champion, Woods has positioned himself nicely for a run at green jacket No. 5. He got through the front nine in 2-under with a pair of birdies and seven pars. He is tied for fourth with Mickelson and Padraig Harrington.

"The greens are holding and I made a couple of birdies," Woods said. "I need to make a move on the back side. I know I'm in condition, that's not a problem. It's a matter of execution."

Mickelson doesn't have a par through five holes and was as low as 5-under before giving away strokes at the fourth and fifth. The 2004 champion, Mickelson came charging out of the gate with three birdies, including a birdie on No. 1 despite hitting his drive into a fairway bunker.

Stephen Ames, Singh, Couples, Els and Goosen are tied for seventh at 2-under. Singh and Couples, both former Masters winners, were unable to take advantage of the softer conditions, carding a bogey each with no birdies.

"I played four holes so it's really hard to evaluate what you've done," Singh said. "I had a lot of putts I wish I had back. I've got to go out tomorrow and play hard. It'll be a long day."

Campbell entered the round with a three-shot lead and birdied his first two holes. He followed with a pair of bogeys to finish the abbreviated round right where he started at 6-under-par. Campbell finished four holes before play was suspended and he'll be on the fifth tee when the third round resumes Sunday at 8 a.m. EDT.

"Honestly, even with the two bogeys, I hit two good putts," Campbell said. "I feel like I hit a lot of good shots. Only bad shot I hit was the second shot on three. Pretty bad mistake there."

Play was suspended at 1:02 p.m. and did not resume until 5:20. The final round is scheduled to begin Sunday at 11:00 a.m. with the lead groups teeing off around 2:30 p.m.

That means a lot of golf is left to be played on Sunday on a course that appears to be relinquishing more birdies after Saturday's rain.

Campbell and Mediate will have to play 32 holes tomorrow while Clark and Els have 31 holes to go. Of the top 11 players on the leaderboard Ames, Woods and Goosen are the furthest along and will play 27 on Sunday.

"I'm in shock at how comfortable I feel," Mediate said. "On the first tee I knew I was only going to play four holes. It wasn't like I was going to play a whole round. but I felt fine, I felt good out there."

Jim Furyk was one of 11 players to complete the third round and he signed for a 4-under 68 to get to even-par 216 and grab the clubhouse lead.

"If (Sunday) is a rough day, yes," Furyk said when asked if he's back in contention. "I would have liked to have made a putt to get to 1-under. We'll see what the leaders do."