LOS ANGELES – As the rain continued to fall yesterday morning, Chad Campbell and Robert Allenby sat around Riviera Country Club thinking the same thing.
"You kind of thought that maybe you weren't going to get out there (and play)," Allenby said.
"I honestly thought we wouldn't even start," Campbell said.
Play in the second round of the Nissan Open did begin after a four-hour delay, however, and at the end of the long, wet day, guess which players were among the happiest that it did.
Campbell and Allenby, of course.
Campbell shot a 6-under-par 65, two shots better than anyone else who finished, and took a three-shot lead over three players, only one of whom completed his round. That would be Allenby, who eagled the first hole and went on to shoot 67 for a two-round total of 6-under 136.
Also at 6-under were first-round leader Brian Davis, who never hit a shot yesterday, and Kevin Sutherland, who made two birdies in the four holes he played before play was suspended at 5:45 with 72 of the 142 golfers yet to complete their second round.
Those players – including Tiger Woods, who played only four holes yesterday and stands four shots behind Campbell – will return at 7:30 this morning and, weather permitting, finish the second round before turning around and starting the third. Then again, as Allenby said, "It looks like it's going to rain all day Friday, all Saturday and all Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. It's not going to stop.
"You don't have to be a rocket scientist to work that one out, either."
He's not far off. More rain was expected last night, and there's an 80 percent chance of wet stuff coming today and tomorrow (it's 60 percent for Monday, when they might still be playing). Not that Allenby minds the rain; it was wet in 2001 when he won a six-man playoff here.
"I'm not really sure what it is, but I seem to play a lot better in the rain," said the 31-year-old Australian. "You'd think I was from Ireland or somewhere like that, wouldn't you?"
It sure wasn't that he came into this tournament with any momentum or confidence. He missed the cut in his first three starts of the year and then finished tied for 45th at Phoenix.
"Apart from this week I have played terrible this year," Allenby said. "I haven't been hitting the ball very well; my short game has been terrible; my putting has been horrendous; I have been driving the ball pretty bad and I have been hitting my irons pretty average, too."
But Allenby made only one bogey, which was one more than Campbell made under the lift, clean and place conditions. Campbell had six birdies, starting on 10 (his first hole), when he came within an inch of holing out from 70 feet on the short par-4. He also narrowly missed a hole-in-one on 16, tapping in from 14 inches.
"I hit the ball really well," Campbell said. "I gave myself a lot of chances to make birdies and was able to make a lot of putts for a change."
Notable
There were no surprises at the deadline for Match Play entries: Ernie Els did not enter and everyone else in the top 65 did. The brackets will become official at 4 p.m. Monday, after which time any player who withdraws will not be replaced by an alternate.
Chris Starkjohann, the teaching pro from Cardiff who shot 3-under in the first round, hit only two shots yesterday before play was suspended. He reached the green on the par-5 first with a 4-iron and will have a 62-foot putt for eagle when play resumes.
Mike Weir, seeking an unprecedented third straight Nissan title, was in contention at 5-under before he made a disastrous triple bogey at 13. He missed the green, chipped within 4½ feet – and then three-putted. He shot 73 and sits at 140.
Also at 140 is Chris Riley, Campbell's roommate at UNLV. Riley made three birdies and four bogeys on an eventful front nine but added three more birdies on the back nine without a bogey for a 69. Another San Diego product, Pat Perez, shot his second straight 71.
Among the ways players found to kill time: Starkjohann and his wife went to Niketown, while Luke Donald and a few caddies watched movies in Duffy Waldorf's Chevy Express van. On the bill: "School of Rock" and "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery."
Elsewhere
Curtis Strange got off to a slow start in his Champions Tour debut, shooting a 2-over 74 to fall eight strokes behind first-round leaders R.W. Eaks and Mike McCullough in the ACE Group Classic at Naples, Fla.
Defending champion Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand shot a 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead in the Malaysian Open at Kuala Lumpur.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
