Justin Rose stays calm before the storm

JUSTIN Rose moved to within two shots of the lead at the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Ohio before third-round play was suspended due to the threat of storms. Rose birdied the par-five fifth hole to move to 11 under par, two shots adrift of leader Rickie Fowler, but played only one further hole before the stoppage.

Tour rookie Fowler had matched Rose's opening 65 on Thursday and followed that up with a 66 to move to 13 under at halfway.

He had also completed six holes of par golf before the players were forced off the course yesterday, with play due to restart later in the day.

Tim Petrovic picked up shots at the second and fifth to move level with Rose and one shot ahead of fellow Americans Ricky Barnes and Spencer Levin and Australia's Jason Day, a winner at the recent Byron Nelson Championship.

Phil Mickelson made a strong start to his round with three birdies in the seven holes he was able to play, although a bogey at the par-three fourth left him five shots off the lead at eight under.

That was four shots better than Tiger Woods, who double-bogeyed the 10th after sending his tee shot out of bounds – although he responded with back-to-back birdies at the next two holes.

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy lay nine shots off Fowler in joint 20th after the second round. Among the players who missed the cut were England's Brian Davis and South Africa's Ernie Els.