Pettersson ahead as weather strikes

Swede Carl Pettersson just had time to regain the outright lead before more bad weather halted the Memorial tournament in Ohio for the third day running.

The 28-year-old from Gothenburg, trying for the win that would put him into the US Open and make him a contender for the Ryder Cup again, had three holes of his third round left when play was suspended.

Pettersson was 11 under par, Americans Woody Austin and Zach Johnson 10 under and Masters champion Phil Mickelson eight under with Australian Adam Scott.

The quintet were among 24 players unable to finish and required back at Muirfield Village for a 7am resumption so the final round could follow as scheduled.

European Tour Order of Merit leader David Howell also had unfinished business, but business he wanted to forget.

A week after reaching the world top 10 for the first time with his runaway victory in the BMW Championship at Wentworth, Howell was joint-ninth half way around and paired with Mickelson when he double-bogeyed three of the first four holes, went to the turn in a nightmare 45 and was left needing a closing par for an 83.

He had dropped all the way to 64th. In stark contrast Justin Rose, who went to bed on Friday night thinking he had been disqualified from the event, woke up on Sunday in a tie for 14th with Paul Casey.

Rose and his playing partner Ryan Moore left the course on Friday night five minutes before play was officially suspended because of bad light and were told they were out of the €4.4m tournament as a result.

Feeling hard done by because the information to stop was given to them by their official scorer, the pair were given the chance to state their case at first light yesterday morning and were instated.

Rose birdied three of his last four holes in the second round to survive the cut with two shots to spare, and followed up with a 67 to improve another 44 places.

“It was a tough decision, but I think it was the right call,” Rose said.

While he was delighted to end the day three under, Casey was disappointed. He had climbed into a tie for sixth, but finished with two bogeys.

Pettersson led by three when Mickelson ran up a double-bogey seven on the 11th. He was caught by late charges from Austin and Scott, splashed out of sand to seven feet on the 503-yard 15th and made the putt to top the leaderboard on his own again.

“It’s a bit of a shame the weather came in, but it’s fine,” he said. “I hit it good, but if I did miss hit a shot I ended up in a good spot.”

He missed out on a place in the US Open last Monday when the latest world rankings showed him at 51st rather than 50th by 0.01pts, but a second US Tour victory – he captured the Chrysler Championship last October – would save him the need to qualify tomorrow.

It would also lift him from 24th to eighth on the Ryder Cup world points list.