Ricky Barnes further staked his claim to a US Open victory as the third round finally resumed on Sunday with the major heading for a first Monday finish since 1983.
More heavy rain fell at Bethpage Black overnight, saturating an already drenched course which had flooded on many greens and fairways on Saturday evening, bringing play to a premature end with the third round only just having got under way.
That led tournament officials from the United States Golf Association to suspend play for the day with some players in the remaining 60-man field, including halfway leader Barnes, still not having started their third rounds.
The American, playing his first full year on the PGA Tour in his seventh year as a professional, was going the right way about emulating 2003 Open champion Ben Curtis in making his maiden professional victory at a major.
With the storms continuing through the night, and a further three-quarters of an inch of rain landing on the Black course at Bethpage State Park, officials decided to delay play until noon (5pm BST), pushing fourth-round play back into Monday for the first time in 26 years.
Barnes, starting the day at eight under with a one-shot lead over fellow American Lucas Glover, moved into a three-shot lead after six holes thanks to a birdie at the second and a 30-foot eagle putt at the fourth.
He had already seen his 132 from two rounds go into the record books as the lowest 36-hole score in US Open history, but the eagle got the 28-year-old to 11 under par, the first man to move into double digits at the US Open since Jim Furyk in the third round at Olympia Fields en route to his victory in 2003.
Barnes' lead stretched to four shots when Glover slipped to seven under with a bogey at the sixth while Mike Weir of Canada remained third at six under having birdied the fifth and bogeyed the sixth.
And despite a bogey at the seventh, Barnes saw his lead stretched to five shots when Glover doubled the same hole with Weir slipping to four under after eight.
England's Ross Fisher moved forward with a birdie at the par-five fourth, reaching the turn at three under in a tie for fourth with Americans Todd Hamilton and David Duval after 10 and nine holes respectively.
