Maggert does just enough

Golfer takes three-shot lead into back nine, but rain forces suspension of play

The wind was blowing hard enough to sweep sand out of the bunkers and knock down scores Friday at the PODS Championship. Jeff Maggert used it to his advantage.

Starting his second round with the wind at his back, Maggert birdied three of his opening four holes and hung on long enough to be leading by three shots at the turn when play was suspended for the rest of the day because of storms at Palm Harbor, Fla.

Maggert was at 8-under par, three shots ahead of Kenny Perry and D.J. Trahan. For the second straight day, none of the late starters came close to finishing the round.

"I've only played 27 holes," Maggert said. "I've got a lot of the tournament in front of me. Even though I have the lead now, I'm not really looking at my position. I'm just trying to play solid and give myself an opportunity to finish off this round with a good score."

About 15 minutes after the siren sounded to stop play, the sky opened and dumped even more rain on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook. That might not be a bad thing, for softer greens at least gave players a fighting chance.

Defending champion Mark Calcavecchia shot a 1-under 70 and was tied for the clubhouse lead at 3-under 139 with two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen (74), Billy Mayfair (71), Stuart Appleby (73) and Paul Casey (72).

ALSO FRIDAY

TOSHIBA CLASSIC: Tim Simpson took the first-round lead with the best round of his Champions Tour career, a bogey-free, 8-under 63 that left him a shot clear of 2005 winner Mark Johnson at Newport Beach, Calif.

The 51-year-old Simpson, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour whose career has been sidetracked by Lyme disease and a series of injuries and other ailments, is winless in 44 starts in parts of three seasons on the 50-and-over tour.

Defending champion Jay Haas and Bernhard Langer opened with 65s, and Craig Stadler, Ben Crenshaw, Bruce Lietzke and D.A. Weibring shot 66s.

Scott Hoch, coming off consecutive wins in Florida in the Allianz Championship and The ACE Group Classic, had a 67. Mark O'Meara opened with a 69 in his first start of the year on the tour, and Scotland's Sandy Lyle shot a 70 in his Champions Tour debut.

MALAYSIAN OPEN: Danny Chia moved into position to become the first Malaysian player to win the Malaysian Open, shooting a 5-under 67 for a share of the second-round lead with England's Nick Dougherty at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Chia and Dougherty (70) had 12-under 132 totals on the Kota Permai course in the event sanctioned by the European and Asian tours.

NOTE

ELS DISCLOSES SON HAS AUTISM: For all the tough losses he has endured on the golf course the past few years, Ernie Els found perspective at home in the blue eyes of 5-year-old Ben.

His son was diagnosed with autism, which Els and his wife coped with privately until the Big Easy showed up on the PGA Tour this week with an "Autism Speaks" logo on his golf bag and a message he wanted to get out.

"I feel comfortable talking about it now," Els told The Associated Press after he likely missed the cut Friday in the PODS Championship. "I've got a bit of a profile where it will grab attention. That's what this problem needs. And with that, hopefully, more people will get involved, and we can start getting to what causes it and what can be done to help it."

His son turned 5 in October, the youngest of two children, a big boy with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Ben is quite affected by it," Els said. "But he's a lovely boy."

Els, who won the Honda Classic last week to end an 0-for-47 drought on the PGA Tour that spanned 3 1/2 years, said he and wife, Leizl, have known about it for "quite a few years," and they have spoken to specialists around the world.

It was something they dealt with privately at home in London and in South Africa.

"It's been a bit of a challenge," Els said. "It's so new to everybody, that a lot of people have different ideas. After seeing just about everybody in the world, I decided on this path we're going to go.

"Like any family will tell you, it's not easy. And it's a change of life, a change of priorities."