Matt Kuchar was on a roll Saturday afternoon when suddenly the skies over Muirfield Village darkened the weather horns halted play at 5 p.m.
Kuchar had just birdied three straight and four of his last five holes to get to 15-under par when he had to head for the clubhouse.
“It was tough for me to swallow being two-over early,” Kuchar said of his poor start to a day that turned around for him on the back nine at the home of Jack Nicklaus. He will be on the 16th tee when play resumes either late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning.
Kuchar has company at the top of the leader board. Emiliano Grillo, a winner early this season who hasn’t had a top 10 since, has two holes left in his round. He was four-under through 16 holes and enjoying his surge. “It’s been eight really long months,” he said of his slump. “It’s been hard but here it is unbelievable. It’s hard not to play good here.”
Will McGirt was the leader in the clubhouse at 14-under after a sparkling round of 64 earlier in the day. Gary Woodland has a chance to join him or perhaps get to 15-under. The long-hitting Woodland is 14-under with just the 18th left to complete.
Jason Day had a chance to get close to the leaders. He was 13-under, six-under for his round and was just short of the 18th green in two. But a poor pitch shot rolled farther down the slope than where he started and he would finish with a double-bogey six and fell back to 11-under.
Phil Mickelson finished his day and posted 10-under par while Rory McIlroy is six back of the leaders at nine-under.
Jordan Spieth fell apart with a 74 that dropped him all the way back to four-under and a tie for 58th.
Overnight co-leader Brendan Steele, playing in the last pairing with Kuchar, was four-over for the day and back at eight-under par.
PGA Tour officials were waiting on the weather, hoping to finish late in the evening.
