65 PLACES CHARLES IN CHARGE HOWELL TAKES ONE-SHOT LEAD; RIVIERA PAYS THE PRICE.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

Funk sunk, but the Price was right and the champ hung tough Friday, when Charles Howell III and host Riviera Country Club emerged the biggest winners in the second round of the Nissan Open.

Howell, the slender slammer who has emerged as one of the PGA Tour's top talents at age 23, recorded seven birdies in a bogey-less round of 65 to move five shots ahead of first-round leader Fred Funk and take a one-shot midway lead at 8-under-par 134.

``I definitely got the better of the tee-time draw,'' said Howell, who had a morning start Thursday, when difficult wind affected afternoon play, then got milder winds in his afternoon round Friday and pulled away from Price with birdies on Nos. 17 and 18.

Price, 46, held second place at 135 after a round of 67 spiced by a 90-foot, 7-inch chip-in birdie on No. 18, drawing a loud and long cheer from the large gallery surrounding that green.

``I missed a couple of makeable putts on 15, 16 and 17,'' Price said, ``so I guess it always evens out in the long run.''

Defending champion Len Mattiace held third after a 67 that left him at 136, two strokes ahead of PGA champion Rich Beem, whose 65 tied Howell and Funk for low round of the week.

But 7,222-yard, par-71 Riviera again came away a huge victor over the field, which averaged 74.039 in the opening round and improved to just 72.92 Friday, when the wind was less gusty but still troublesome.

Howell called the wind - ``no doubt about it'' - Riviera's greatest difficulty for the field.

``You can take all golf courses, grow the rough up, make the greens fast and guys are going to shoot low scores,'' he said, ``but when the wind blows, that is the one great equalizer.''

He withstood the challenge with some solid play around the greens, as Funk had done in the first round.

``I feel good with my short game, which is always important to me,'' Howell said.

Others felt good to survive another tough day in a tournament tough enough to make the midway cut three over par.

``Obviously, conditions are pretty difficult,'' David Duval said after a 70 left him tied for fifth at 139 with Stephen Ames (69), K.J. Choi (69), Canyon Country resident Duffy Waldorf (69) and first-round leader Funk. ``Look at the scores. Golf course is, yeah, pretty tough.''

Things got particularly tough in one disastrous four-hole stretch for Funk, who had followed his opening round of 65 with a bogey-less Friday start that got him to a tournament-leading 8 under before going bogey-bogey-bogey-double bogey on holes 12 through 15.

Tiger Woods preceded that crash with a double bogey on No. 7, his 16th hole, after getting to 5 under for the day, 4 under for the tournament and within two strokes of the lead before Funk teed off.

``It was tough today,'' said Woods, whose 68 left him tied for 10th with six others, including former UCLA star and two-time Nissan champion Corey Pavin. ``We had a lot of different conditions, wind out of every direction.''

Woods made the best of the conditions until hitting into deep fairway rough, then a fairway bunker enroute to the double bogey on No. 7. He came away mostly pleased with his round, which included a birdie on No. 8 and a near par-saving downhill putt on No. 9 after drawing cheers for a flop shot out of greenside rough.

``I really played well all day,'' he said. ``I just made a bad swing on No. 7, and it cost me a couple of shots.''

Price, who has won two PGA championships, also was happy with his play, which positioned him to challenge for the sixth victory on tour by a player over 40 since the start of the 2002 season.

``A lot of us still want to play,'' he offered as a partial reason for the victories by fortysomethings Jeff Sluman, Loren Roberts, Gene Sauers, Dan Forsman and Price last year and one-stroke losses this year by Tom Lehman and 49-year-old Jay Haas, who shot 61 at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

``'From my point of view, it is the fact that I still go out and practice. I mean, I don't play as much as I used to. But still, when I am home, I love to go and hit balls and try to make my swing a little bit better and try to improve.''

The practice contributed to six birdies against just one bogey Friday, when Price twice got to 7 under par - most dramatically on his final shot of the round, from well off the green.

``Made it like a 2-foot putt,'' he said with a grin.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1) Charles Howell III watches his drive off the 18th tee on his way to a second-round 65 Friday afternoon and the lead at the Nissan Open.

(2) First-round leader Fred Funk puts his head down on the 12th green, where he carded his first bogey.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) As usual, a large gallery followed Tiger Woods all over the Riviera Country Club. At the 18th green, the gallery is still as Woods lines up a putt.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(4) no caption (Tiger Woods swinging)

Box:

(1) From the FRINGE

(2) LEADERBOARD