For Tiger Woods and Davis Love III, it was the break they were looking for.

For most of the leaders, it couldn't have come at a worse time.

Saturday's two-hour weather delay brought rain and softer conditions to Augusta National Golf Club - for a little while. But after the sun came out and the wind picked up - consistently 20 to 30 mph, with gusts over 40 mph - conditions were much more difficult and colder (down to 50 degrees) for those playing late in the afternoon.

Woods and Love, caught by the delay near the midpoints of their rounds, took advantage of the easier conditions by shooting 4-under 68s. Nine shots behind going into Saturday's action, the two are now in striking distance to win the Masters.

Of those who started the day under par, only Vijah Singh and Loren Roberts could improve their positions.

Fred Couples, playing in the first group off the tee Saturday morning, played 15 holes before play was suspended at 12:25 p.m.

``It'll be hard at the end of the day,'' said Couples, the 1992 Masters champion. ``It was cold when we came back out. I'm glad I'm done.''

He was right.

Senior golfers Tommy Aaron and Jack Nicklaus both struggled in the high winds.

Aaron, at 63 the oldest player to make the Masters cut, made six straight pars before the delay. Then disaster struck, with Aaron taking a triple bogey 7 on the seventh hole after play resumed. On the back nine, Aaron, the 1973 Masters champ, made only two pars in carding a round of 86.

Six-time Masters winner Nicklaus was about to tee off on No. 1 when the horn sounded, signaling the suspension of play. Nicklaus made it through the front in 1-over 37, but couldn't get through Amen Corner unscathed. The lowlight was a triple-bogey 6 on the par-3 12th, leading to a 44 on the back nine.

Greg Norman, however, felt the conditions would get better as the afternoon progressed.

``It looks like the wind is not going to come up, so it is to the leaders' advantage,'' said Norman, who finished with a 2-under 70.

But Mother Nature fooled him, too. For about an hour after play resumed, conditions were soft and damp with a steady drizzle. That was before the winds blew the clouds away and brought in sunshine.

As the high winds dropped the temperature on the course, Woods and Love rose on the leader board.

``It's blustery now,'' Woods said in his post-round interview. ``They're going to have to play different shots into the greens now, and they're going to have to watch for the ball to stick, too.''

One thing Woods was thankful for was that he didn't have to resume his round on the tricky 12th, where swirling winds make for a trying shot under normal conditions.

``That would have been interesting,'' Woods said. ``With the rain and the wind gusting, it would have been difficult.''

Love, for one, didn't feel any pity for the players who had to bear the brunt of the conditions.

``I'm not going to feel sorry for them,'' he said after his round. ``In the course of major championships, sometimes you get funny draws and it doesn't work out quite right. But these guys playing right now are not real happy about their situation, and I don't blame them.''