Woods eyes top-three spot

Tiger Woods's bid to reclaim the world number one ranking from Vijay Singh became a little more difficult when the rain-delayed Nissan Open second round finally resumed on Sunday.

With the tournament likely to be reduced to just 36 holes after the entire third day was washed out on Saturday, Woods needs to finish no worse than outright third to regain his status as the game's leading player.

Should the PGA Tour event be played over three or the usual four rounds, he would need to finish in the top four at Riviera Country Club.

"With an event being reduced to just 36 holes, only 75 percent of world ranking points are on offer," world rankings organiser Ian Barker of Official World Golf Ranking said.

"This means Tiger would have to finish no worse than outright third, or in a three-way tie for second."

Woods, who monopolised the world rankings for a record 264 consecutive weeks before being dislodged last September by Singh, had completed just four holes of the rain-hit second round on Friday.

The eight-times major winner was among a group of players tied for fifth at five under, four behind leader Chad Campbell.

With half the field still to complete their second round going into the scheduled final day, American Campbell was at nine-under-par 133 after carding a bogey-free six-under 65.

THREE CLEAR

The 30-year-old was three shots clear of Britain's Brian Davis, Australia's Robert Allenby and compatriot Kevin Sutherland.

First-day leader Davis was among several players who had not yet begun their second rounds.

The backlog was created when torrential rains swept across the Pacific Palisades on Friday, pushing back start times by four hours. The resumption of play was then delayed by one and a half hours on Sunday.

Should the tournament be decided over 36 holes, the winner would receive a first prize of $864,000 which would count towards the 2005 PGA Tour money list.

However, the victory would not hold official status, meaning the winner would not gain the usual two-year tour exemption or a place in the season-opening Mercedes Championships in Hawaii next season.