It will come as a shock to his loyal legion of followers, but not even Arnold Palmer can control Mother Nature at the Masters Tournament.

Palmer's farewell tour of Augusta National Golf Club hit a roadblock Friday when wet course conditions forced the second round of play to be suspended.

Palmer will be among the 38 players in the 87-player field who will return at 7:45 this morning to complete their second round.

They'll be in pursuit of tournament leader Vijay Singh, who is at 9-under-par 135 after rounds of 70 and 65. Singh's 6-under-par 30 on the back nine included four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 No. 15.

The last time play was suspended in the Masters was the third round of the 2000 tournament. The leader then was Singh, who went on to win the Masters the next day.

Once the second round is completed, the cut to the low 44 players and ties, along with anyone within 10 shots of the lead, will be made. Third-round starting times will begin at approximately 10:45 a.m.

Palmer, who is playing in his 48th and final Masters, was 9-over par through 12 holes Friday and is 26-over for the tournament. He will miss the cut for the 19th straight times, but that doesn't matter. Fans don't turn out to see his golf anymore; they come out to see Palmer himself.

The legendary Palmer, a four-time Masters champion, will be on the 13th hole this morning, ready to complete the final six holes of his sentimental journey.

"I owe it to the crowd because they were so nice today," Palmer said in the parking lot as he was leaving the course. "I owe it to them to try to finish it."

While the 72-year-old Palmer will say his goodbyes to his loyal fans today, Singh is doing much the same to his competition, at least so far.

With the 65, Singh has opened up a four-shot clubhouse lead over Padraig Harrington (70 Friday), Sergio Garcia (71) and Angel Cabrera (71).

Of the players still on the course, U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen is three shots behind Singh. Goosen, who opened with a 69, is 3-under par for the second round through 11 holes and 6-under for the tournament. After that, the next-closest golfers still on the course are six shots back of Singh.

First-round leader Davis Love III, who went 18 holes Thursday without making a bogey, had one on his first hole Friday. It was a sign of things to come for the Georgian, who had three more bogeys and just one birdie in a round of 75. At 142, he's seven shots off Singh's lead.

Singh missed only one fairway off the tee, hit 15 greens and needed just 27 putts Friday.

"I'm surprised I'm 9-under par, especially going out there starting at 2-under," said Singh, who has gone 30 holes without a bogey. "I didn't expect to shoot what I did. I'm surprised about it, but I'm thrilled about it, too."

Singh's 65 was only two shots off the course record, which no one thought would be challenged after 285 yards were added to the Augusta National, which now plays to 7,270 yards.

Not all that yardage was used Friday, as the competition committee moved up some tees, particularly Nos. 1 and 18, because of the threat of rain.

The rain started Thursday night and continued until the early afternoon Friday. More rain came at 4:50 p.m., forcing a suspension of play 10 minutes later. The players never returned to the course Friday as more rain suspended play at 6:15 p.m.

Nearly an inch of rain fell on the course before play was stopped, according to Augusta National officials.

There is a possibility the tournament will use the lift-clean-and-place rule for the first time in recent memory today. The rule, which allows a player to clean his ball and place it, cannot be used during the completion of the second round, however. A round must finish with the same rules that it started.

"It's going to be a quagmire," Mark Calcavecchia said. "I've only got four holes to play, but the guys with nine holes to play are going to have a problem."

Augusta native Charles Howell is one of those players. He'll be hitting his second shot into the 10th hole this morning. Howell is 1-over for the round through nine holes and 3-over for the tournament. The projected cut is 3-over 147.

Another player fighting to make the cut is Tom Lehman, who faces a birdie putt on the 18th hole this morning. He's 4-over for the tournament. Lehman elected to wait until this morning to putt despite the fact his playing partners finished out the hole to complete their rounds.

Calcavecchia is 4-over through 14 holes, and Matt Kuchar is 4-over through 10 holes.

The moisture made the course play extremely long Friday and was reflected in the scores. Of the 49 players who completed the second round, only three of the 14 sub-par rounds were in the 60s.

Singh, of Fiji, seemed to be playing a different course than the rest of the field. His 6-under-par 30 on the back nine was one shot off the course record.

"Thirty on the back nine, I wasn't even aware of it, until I was filling in my scorecard," Singh said.

"That's strong," Garcia said. "More than anything, I will say the 30 on the back nine, that's quite sweet."

The 39-year-old Singh, inspired by watching playing partner Thomas Bjorn birdie the first five holes en route to a 67, picked up his first birdie on No. 8 and was off and running.

He followed that with birdies on Nos. 12 and 13, an eagle on No. 15 and birdies on Nos. 17 and 18.

"It came in quickly," Singh said.

For the day, Singh had five birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free round. With his handiwork on No. 15, he mastered a par 5 that has surrendered just five eagles this year. He hit a driver off the tee, knocked a 7-iron from 190 yards out to 25 feet left of the pin, and made the putt.

"It was a good sight, to see it go in," said Singh, who wasn't comfortable with the read or the pace of the putt before he hit it.

The steady and sometimes heavy rain stopped and the skies cleared just before Palmer teed off to a rousing ovation at 1:05 p.m. He bogeyed the first hole as the gallery groaned when his 15-foot par putt missed.

"It is the passing of an era," Augusta native and 1987 Masters champion Larry Mize said. "I think his presence will be here bodily and even when he's not here. You have the history that's here because of him. He's part of this place."