Nissan Open

Howell won Rookie of the Year in 2001

Charles Howell III stepped up his bid to win a second tour title by extending his lead in the Nissan Open after the third round.

The 23-year-old, who had held a slender one-shot lead overnight, moved three strokes clear of Nick Price and four ahead of third-placed KJ Choi.

But the course at the Riviera Country Club was not so kind to Tiger Woods whose wayward shots saw him drop out of the running.

I got stuck on the first hole and flipped it Tiger Woods

The world number one went out of bounds off the first tee, took a double bogey seven and then twice three-putted to push him back in joint 28th place alongside Darren Clarke.

Woods is getting used to either blowing away the competition or failing to threaten and he said the mistake on the first hole caused him to fade away in Los Angeles.

"I got stuck and flipped it," he explained. "Instead of finishing on number two fairway I went in the parking lot.

"I struggled all day and to compound that the breaks I got weren't exactly positive."

In contrast, Howell got off to a perfect start birdieing the first two holes.

His decision not to check the leaderboard until the final few holes saw him playing some relaxed strokes.

Even so his control was spot-on and he produced a ten-foot eagle putt at the 564-yard 11th.

Howell finished the round in 68, a total shared by Britain's Darren Clarke who made the cut by the skin of his teeth.

The Ryder Cup player revealed he is making progress after having some coaching from Wood's coach Butch Harmon.

"I played really nicely." he said. "I had three-and-a-half hours on the range after yesterday's round (a 74) and 68 was about as bad as I could have scored."

Arjun Atwal has shone despite the difficult weather conditions

Malaysian Open

India's Arjun Atwal ignored a second day of bad weather to take a four-shot lead when play was suspended midway through Saturday's third round at the Mines Resort course in Kuala Lumpur.

Atwal is four shots clear of Retief Goosen and Thailand's Thammanoon Srirot, with Padraig Harrington two shots further back.

Atwal had to finish his second round on Saturday morning and then only made it through eight holes in his third before an electrical storm caused play to be suspended.

He started at four under after seven holes of his second round and was in sparkling form as he carded a 65 to add to his opening 62.

Malaysian Open leaderboard - 17 Arjun Atwal (Ind) (after 44 holes) - 13 Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) (44), Retief Goosen (Rsa) (44) - 11 Padraig Harrington (Ire) (44), Ted Oh (Kor) (44), Daniel Chopra (Swe) (45), Dean Robertson (Scot) (47)

That left him on 15 under after 36 holes and gave Atwal a three-shot lead over Goosen, with Korea's Ted Oh and Swede Fredrik Andersson a shot further back.

The leaders began their third rounds in mid-afternoon, with Atwal playing alongside reigning European Order of Merit winner Goosen.

Atwal extended his lead to four shots when Goosen bogeyed the fifth and Srirot took over in second place on 13 under with birdies at the third, fifth and sixth.

Goosen fought his way back to take a share of second but Lee Westwood's hopes of challenging for a first win in over two years suffered a blow as slipped back seven under par.