Defending champion Lee Westwood birdied two of the first four holes and moved to 13 under at the Indonesian Masters on Saturday before play in the third round was halted by lightning and rain.
Zaw Moe of Myanmar was second on 9 under through four holes at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club. Play was suspended at shortly after 1pm and called off for the day at 5pm.
“The suspension stopped a bit of momentum going but if it is dangerous weather out there then it is the safest thing to do,” Westwood said. “It is disappointing for everybody – the players, sponsors and the spectators but this is the nature of the weather in this part of the world.
“I’m in a good position and I’ll come out tomorrow and try to keep the form up.”
Lee Sung of Korea, Shiv Kapur of India and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria were in a tie for third on 7 under. No players had completed the third round.
“You have to be mentally strong especially in this sort of weather delays,” said Moe, the 1997 winner of Asian Tour. “I made four straight pars so I’ll need to get some momentum going when I return tomorrow.”
He and the other 69 golfers will resume play early Sunday.