Ernie Els (66) meets the challenge

Ernie Els was in the lead and off the golf course, and he wasn’t sure which made him feel better.

Rushing to finish as dark clouds gathered over the Blue Monster at Doral, Fla., Els made one last birdie for a six-under-par 66 and a one-shot lead over Robert Allenby before heavy rain temporarily halted play Friday in the CA Championship.

Eighteen players had to wait nearly three hours before they could resume the second round. When it finally ended, Els had his first lead after any round on U.S. soil since he won the Honda Classic two years ago.

“It’s in the books, and we were pretty lucky to get done,” he said. “We ran the last two holes just to get in the house.”

Els, who was at 10-under 134, was standing over his tee shot on the par-three fourth when he felt a gust.

“I’m just about to pull the club back and I just felt this chill come over. And I thought, ‘What’s going on here?’ And the wind just changed right there,” he said.

He came up short of the green and scrambled for par.

“Very, very strange,” Els said. “I think the only other time I had that happen was in Scotland when the tide changed.”

Allenby was tied for the lead until a three-putt from 50 feet in rain so strong he could barely see the flag. The bogey gave him a 67 and will put him in the final group with Els on Saturday. His round featured two eagles, including a hole in one with a five-wood on the 232-yard 13th.

Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, whose father once competed with Els, got up and down for par behind the 18th green to finish off a 70. He was at seven-under 137, along with Bob Hope Classic champion Bill Haas, who had a 66.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson is four under.

Kendall leads

Skip Kendall topped the Puerto Rico Open leaderboard at five under after nine holes when first-round play was suspended because of darkness in the rain-delayed PGA Tour event. Richard S. Johnson and Kevin Streelman were four under. Johnson completed eight holes, and Streelman played seven. John Daly was one under through eight.