SAN DIEGO — More fog delays allowed the leaders to play no more than six holes yesterday in the Buick Invitational. Tiger Woods didn't even need that long to make up a three-shot deficit on Tom Lehman.

Woods birdied his first two holes, one of them by holing out from the bunker on No. 11, and was tied with Lehman at 14 under par when darkness fell on Torrey Pines.

Woods finished his second round early yesterday with a birdie to cap off a 63 on the easier North course, then waited about six hours before the fog lifted enough to see fairways and greens, but not the Pacific Ocean.

"It's been a long day," Woods said.

"And we've got another long one tomorrow."

Lehman struggled from the onset, missing a 6-foot birdie on the first hole, then having to make two 8-footers on the next two holes, one of them for a par, the other for a bogey.

Woods found the fairway on No. 14 when the horn sounded to suspend play, and elected to finish the hole. "One less hole to worry about," he said.

Lehman didn't bother to tee off, and will return to the tee this morning — assuming there is no fog.

Peter Lonard, who completed his 65 early yesterday to join Woods at 12 under, decided to play the 14th and made a mess of it, taking a double bogey to slip back to 11 under, along with Luke Donald.

Ernie Els was 2 under through five holes and begging rules officials to halt play, saying he couldn't see. He was at 10 under, along with Kevin Sutherland and Dudley Hart.

Quietly marching along in the group behind Woods — the leaders teed off on the back nine for television — the 41-year-old Fijian birdied three of his last four holes and was at 8 under.

The third round is scheduled to resume today at 7:30 a.m.

"I can't wait to grab some dinner and repeat the process tomorrow," Woods said.

Sunshine bathed Torrey Pines last week, and with no rain in the forecast, no one imagined the Buick Invitational might be headed for a Monday finish.

Tournament official Mark Russell held out hope the tournament could be decided tonight, but that requires no more fog delays.

And that might be asking a lot.

Nearly 60 players arrived yesterday morning to finish the second round.

Some were on the practice range hitting soft lob wedges, unable to see where the ball was landing.

After a 2-1/2-hour delay, the second round resumed.

And when the third round began, no one played more than four holes until Torrey Pines was shrouded anew in fog.

Phil Mickelson was at 5 under after 36 holes, but quickly faded from contention. He hit his approach to 3 feet on his second hole, the par-3 11th, only to miss the putt. He followed that with several other mistakes and was 4 over on his round through 11 holes, 11 shots out of the lead.

• Dean Wilson went from a spot among the leaders to the weekend off when he failed to sign his scorecard after completing the second round. Wilson played his final six holes in 3 over for a 75, which would have left him tied for 16th at 6-under 138.

But he left the scoring trailer without signing his card. "First time as a pro," Wilson said as he cleaned out his locker.

It already has been a busy two weeks for Wilson. He was not given a sponsor's exemption at the Sony Open in Honolulu — despite being the only PGA Tour player from Hawaii — getting in as the fourth alternate. He finished 76th.

• Tom Watson extended his lead to three strokes with a second straight 64 at the season-opening event on the Champions Tour, which is for players at least 50 years old.

Wayne Levi is second heading into today's final round at Hualalai Golf Club in Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii.

Levi had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch starting at the ninth. He shot a 64.

• South Africa's Tim Clark shot a 4-under 68 for a four-way share of the lead after the third round of the South African Open in Durban.

Clark shared the lead at 9-under 207 with countrymen Tjaart van der Walt, Hendrik Buhrmann and Titch Moore.