It's a struggle for Tiger Woods

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tiger Woods, hitting out of a bunker on No. 15, bogeyed his last three holes Friday.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The chance awaited Friday for Justin Rose or Tiger Woods to seize control of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Playing in the same group, each player watched the other miss numerous opportunities to do just that. So it was fitting that a strange finish, which included missed moments for both, set the stage for the weekend: This tournament is still anybody's to win.

With a steady rain falling, Rose bogeyed his final hole with a three-putt. He shares the lead with Bill Haas at 9-under par. Woods' finish was even worse: The defending champion bogeyed his final three holes, falling four shots behind the pace set by Rose and Haas.

"The finish kind of got the better of the whole group," Rose said. "The atmosphere seemed to change when it started to rain."

The rain affected Woods, who slipped on a shot, beginning his string of bogeys. It also impacted Rose, who misjudged his first putt on the soaked 18th green.

Haas finished hours earlier in bright sunshine, making Bay Hill look simple with a bogey-free 66. He was just happy to get back on track after a rough finish Thursday, when he bogeyed his final two holes.

"[After] basically giving two away [Thursday] … my goal [Friday] was to try to get those two back and go from there," Haas said. "So that was kind of my mind-set today and then I was able to keep it going."

Rose reached 10-under for the tournament with a birdie at the 12th hole. But he bogeyed two of his final five holes to fall into the tie with Haas. Rose had a birdie putt at No. 18 that would have taken him to 11-under, but he misread the speed and three-putted for a 2-under 70.

"Just kind of second-guessed that putt down the hill a little bit on the speed once the rains fell," Rose said. "But that was the only thing that hampered the day, really. All in all, exciting day, and I'm in a good position."

Woods' day was hampered so frequently that it's hard to believe he shot a 2-under 70. He missed three birdie putts of seven feet or less in the first 12 holes of his round. Yet, as he stepped onto the 16th tee he was 5-under for the day and one shot behind the lead.