James Sugrue carries Irish hopes as Pádraig Harrington and Shane Lowry to miss out

The Irish Open is wide open heading into the weekend

The leading Irishman in the field, as he was after the opening 18, is Cork amateur James Sugrue. Picture: INPHO/Tommy Dickson

England's Aaron Rai, whose one win on the European Tour was the 2018 Honma Hong Kong Open, stands as the sole leader of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open as the home challenge faltered on a second day dominated by the weather.

A heavy early morning frost pushed tee times back by 90 minutes and that in turn left 27 players across nine groupings with some work to complete tomorrow morning after the light failed and play was finally halted.