Palmer hits his last ever drive at Augusta

Even when the action resumed, the conditions were atrocious and a number of players looked to be struggling to cope with the heavy fairways and slippery greens.

But one contender who was not fazed by the rain was Els.

He suddenly discovered a stunning vein of form and picked up five shots in the first four holes of the morning.

Birdies at 13, 14 and 16 and a superb eagle three at the long 15th saw him leapfrog up the leaderboard.

Els managed par fours at the testing closing two holes to reach the half-way stage at seven-under, two behind Singh, who had carded a record-setting 65 before the rain arrived on Friday.

Tiger prowls

Goosen, though, matched his compatriot virtually hole for hole.

After dropping a shot at the 13th, he collected three birdies in the final five holes to reach eight-under, within touching distance of Singh.

Els coped with the conditions better than anyone

Woods is just behind after another characteristic round in which he failed to find top form but still managed to score well.

The world No.1 struggled with his long game and approach shots, but his play on the greens was impeccable and he sunk a host of par-saving putts to stay in touch.

Birdies at 13 and 15 took Woods to five-under - and ominously for his rivals he is well placed to launch a successful defence of his title.

Olazabal, another two-time winner, also mastered the testing Augusta greens and a 69 saw him join Woods, Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia and Angel Cabrera in joint fourth place.

Nick Faldo successfully negotiated the last two holes for an excellent 67, which leaves him at two-under.

Colin Montgomerie survived the three-over-par cut thanks to a 71.

But Open champion David Duval will take no further part in the weekend after he dropped two shots in the morning for a 74 which takes him to four-over.