Too bad the "start-and-stop" 69th Masters Tournament didn't make as much progress as tournament rookie David Howell on Friday.

Only two hours and 55 minutes of golf was played at Augusta National, but it was enough for Howell to birdie five of eight holes in his second round and claim a share of the lead.

Howell is tied with fellow Englishman Luke Donald and first-round leader Chris DiMarco in another disjointed day at the Masters.

They are 5-under par for the tournament at various stages of the second round.

Of the other golfers who have played at least one hole of the second round, Mark Hensby is 3-under for the tournament through eight holes and Kirk Triplett is 2-under through eight holes. Chris Riley (five holes), Ryan Palmer (three holes) and Thomas Bjorn (one hole) are 1-under for the tournament.

Vijay Singh (4-under-par 68 in the first round), Stuart Appleby (69) and defending champion Phil Mickelson (70) have teed off in the second round but haven't finished a hole.

Of the notables, Tiger Woods, who completed 74 earlier in the day, is 2-over for the tournament through one hole, and Retief Goosen (71) is 1-over through three holes.

Ernie Els (75) has teed off in the second round but hasn't completed a hole.

Six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus (77) is 6-over for the tournament through one hole of the second round.

The darkness-suspended first round was completed Friday morning, and 88 of the 91 players in the field started the second round, off both tees. The lead group on the front nine has played nine holes; the first group off the back has finished eight.

Play will begin this morning at 8:30. After the 36-hole cut is made, the field will play as many holes of the third round as possible before dark.

The third round likely will not be completed today. If so, it will be completed Sunday morning before the final round.

Play started at 9:45 a.m. Friday and was halted at 12:40 p.m. because of approaching storms. The players never got back on the course, and play was finally called at 4 p.m. with more bad weather on the way.

Before the delay, Howell - who finished his first-round 72 on Thursday and started the second round on the back nine Friday - had made birdies on Nos. 10, 11, 13, 15 and 16.

"It is what it is," Howell said when asked if the break will stop his momentum. "You can't look at it like that. I was playing lovely, but I might play lovely in the morning, too. There are plenty more holes left."

"(The suspension) affects the guy who went out and shot 5-under on the first seven or eight holes," Stewart Cink said of Howell. "For the rest of us who are making pars, it really doesn't. We're hoping we can come out here tomorrow and catch some rhythm."

When he returns this morning, Howell faces a 6-foot par putt on No. 18. If he makes it, he'll shoot 31 on the side.

"If I'd putted and made it I'd been happy, but if I missed it would have left a sour taste," Howell said. "At least in the morning if I happen to miss it, I can hit another shot straight off."

Logistically, Howell has an advantage on DiMarco and Donald today. While Howell has played eight holes of the third round, Donald is 1-under for the round through two holes and DiMarco is even par for the day through one hole.

That means Howell is looking at playing 28 holes today, while Donald has 34 and DiMarco has 35.

"It's going to be a long day," DiMarco said. "That's going to be a lot of holes."

If either Howell or Donald ends up being the 36-hole leader, it will mark the second straight year an Englishman was at the top of the leaderboard at the halfway mark. Justin Rose shot 67-71 to open the 2004 Masters.

Howell and Donald, members of last year's victorious European team in the Ryder Cup, might end up paired together in today's third round. Donald knows there is a long way to go before that can happen.

"It's 20 holes I've played," Donald said. "There is a lot of golf to be played, and there's danger lurking around every corner at Augusta."

After only 24 of 91 players in the field completed their first round Thursday, the plan was to complete play Friday and start the second round immediately afterward. But more adverse weather put an end to that plan.

Will Nicholson, the chairman of Masters competition and rules committees, hopes today's forecast - morning drizzle followed by partly sunny skies - holds true.

"The weather looks pretty good; it looked pretty good (Friday), so you can come to your own conclusion. But right now it looks good," Nicholson said. "But this year, it's crazy."

More bad weather could necessitate a Monday finish. There have been five Monday finishes in the previous 68 Masters - in 1936, 1938, 1961, 1973 and 1983.

"Under any circumstances, the winner will play 72 holes," Nicholson said.

Some of the tournament's biggest names are in danger of missing the cut.

Sergio Garcia and David Toms, two top-10 players, need to pick up the pace this morning.

The seventh-ranked Garcia, who had a final-round 66 in 2004 and finished in a tie for fourth, opened with 77 this week, as did Toms, the No. 8 player. Neither has finished a hole of Round 2.

David Duval, the former No. 1 player in the world who has been mired in a two-year slump, can make his first cut of the season today. Duval, 0-for-6 in cuts made this year, opened with 75 and is 2-over through six holes of the second round.

John Daly, who had a first-round 80 and hasn't finished a hole of the second round, might be headed for his third missed cut here in the past four years.

DiMarco, the leader on the course at 4-under after 14 holes when play was halted by darkness Thursday, played his final four holes of the round Friday in 1-under to be the first-round leader at 67.

DiMarco returned on No. 6, which he birdied. He then parred in.

At the end of the first round, DiMarco held a one-shot lead over Singh and Donald.

Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.