The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Charles Howell III made it a policy not to pay attention to scoreboards until the end, so imagine his surprise when he walked up to the 18th green Friday at the Nissan Open and saw his name at the top.

With Tiger Woods well behind him and the leaders faltering ahead of him, Howell surged into the lead with a bogey-free round of 6-under 65 to lead by one stroke over Nick Price going into the weekend.

Howell finished strong with a par save from the bunker on No. 16 and two birdies, the final one after a sand wedge into 12 feet on the historic, 451-yard closing hole.

Woods was closing in on the early lead with equally flawless play, 5 under for his round with three holes to play. One bad drive and one bad break changed everything.

He whiffed a shot out of thick rough on No. 7, leading to double bogey, and he finished with a bogey when his drive hung on the steep slope of a bunker. He still had a 68 and was only six strokes behind.

Howell was at 8-under 134, a score he figured would keep him near the lead, not in it. The last time he saw a scoreboard - by accident, of course - Fred Funk was at 8 under and seemingly in control.

"I don't look at leaderboards anymore," Howell said. "I don't think anything good comes out of that."

Price had a few surprises of his own.

He came up short on the seventh hole and chipped in from 60 feet for birdie, and it only got better at the end. After leaving his 8-iron well to the right of the green, the three-time major champion chipped in from 90 feet for another birdie.

"It went in like a 2-foot putt," he said.

Price had a 67 and was at 135, while defending champion Len Mattiace (67) was another stroke behind.

Funk, who had a three-stroke lead to the start the second round, went the other direction in a hurry. He was at 8 under through 11 until a horrid stretch - three bogeys, followed by a double bogey at No. 15.

He wound up with a 74 and was in a large group at 3-under 139 that included David Duval, who had a few adventures of his own - most of them good.

All of them will be chasing Howell, a 23-year-old who won for the first time last year and hits the ball a mile.

That was never more evident than on No. 18, when he hit sand wedge from 140 yards for his second shot. Sure, he had a slight wind at his back, but this is the same hole where Robert Allenby hit 3-wood into the green to win in a playoff two years ago.

Price called him, "pound for pound, the longest hitter of the ball." He might be right, considering Howell is no more than 150 pounds, even wearing his clothes suited for Monday night at the bowling alley.

MATCH PLAY: Nick Faldo, who qualified for the 64-player championship with a runner-up finish to Ernie Els two weeks ago in Australia, withdrew from the $6 million tournament because of the flu.

Phil Tataurangi, No. 66 in the world ranking, will replace Faldo in the field and play Woods in the opening round at Carlsbad, Calif.

ARNIE WITHDRAWS: Arnold Palmer withdrew from the Verizon Classic shortly before his tee time because of back spasms. Palmer hurt his back golfing early in the week and was unable to play in the tournament's pro-am Thursday.

Nine-year Champions Tour player Mike McCullough shot a 4-under-par 67 Friday to take a one-shot lead in the Verizon Classic.

MALAYSIAN OPEN: Retief Goosen shot a 7-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead at Kuala Lumpur before play in the second round was suspended by rain.

ANZ LADIES MASTERS: Karrie Webb had a two-stroke lead over Laura Davies after the second round at Gold Coast, Australia. Webb, forced to complete the last two holes of her second round today after rain delayed play by 2 1/2 hours Friday, is at 10-under 134.