Delays in the morning and afternoon made for groggy, soggy golfers in the evening Saturday at Augusta National Golf Club.

For the 38 players who had to finish the second round before playing 18 more holes, navigating the waterlogged course required patience, a few life preservers and some extra stamina.

"The wait was the toughest thing," said Jesper Parnevik, who arrived shortly after sunup to play the five holes he didn't complete Friday because of rain.

Play was scheduled to resume Saturday morning at 7:45, but the time was twice pushed back as the course was being prepared.

It finally began at 9 a.m. That's an hour and 15 minutes of waiting, wondering and wandering in the clubhouse and on the driving range.

Parnevik said he would rather twiddle his clubs than his thumbs to pass the idle time.

"It was 7:45, 8, 8:15 ... " Parnevik said. "I got a lot of range balls in."

Tiger Woods was a range rat as well, staying there until the call finally came.

"I stayed out there the entire time, and I was already kind of warm," he said. "I didn't want to cool off and then have to warm up again, so I was on the range for a while."

Woods and plenty of others had more time before the third round, which began at 12:30 p.m. He mingled in the champions' locker room and meandered downstairs to eat with Jose Maria Olazabal before the two teed off at 1:50.

"I had a nice lunch with Ollie, actually," Woods said. "We were just talking, telling stories, ... having a good time."

Woods' day began at 4:30 a.m. Nearly 14 hours and 26 holes later, he was tied for the lead with Retief Goosen after a third-round 66 put him at 11-under heading into today's final round.

Woods' sizzling surge - he had 10 birdies and one bogey on the day - made it difficult to believe that he was affected by the marathon in any negative way. Augusta native Charles Howell said the Masters is taxing on the mind more than the body.

"The fatigue factor here is mental," he said. "You have to think so much out here."

Ernie Els faced a 3 1/2 -hour wait after completing his round in late morning. But the way things were going, the South African would have preferred to walk off the 18th green and right into the first tee box.

"I wish I could keep going," he said after firing a 31 on the back nine to finish the second round at 7-under. "It's probably as good a stretch as I've had in a while."

But Els, like everyone else, had to wait. The break didn't seem to affect him, because he bagged birdies on the 2nd and 3rd holes to get to 9-under before finishing in a three-way tie for fourth at 7-under.

Jerry Kelly wasn't in that kind of shape - literally or figuratively. Fatigue became a factor on the eighth hole of the third round.

"Walking up No. 8, my hip and my knees started to hurt a little bit," said Kelly, who finished in a seven-way tie for 22nd.

"Now I'm going to relax."