Brandt Snedeker retains the lead at Wyndham Championship

Brandt Snedeker held on to the lead at the Wyndham Championship after rain suspended the third round in North Carolina.

The American led after the second round, having earlier joined the elite 59 club on day one, and continued to set the pace with a three-shot lead at Sedgefield Country Club.

Meanwhile the sole Irish golfer to make the cut - Graeme McDowell - posted a third round of 70, to stay at three under par for the tournament.

Vying for his ninth PGA Tour victory, Snedeker completed just seven holes — firing two birdies — to sit 16 under before the storm clouds began to gather.

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The 37-year-old will complete 29 holes on Sunday as he sets himself a target of 22 under — his score when he won the same tournament in 2007.

Quoted on the PGA Tour website, he said: “If I get to 22 under par, I think it’s hard for other guys to get there.

“I’m not saying it can’t happen, but that number seems to hold up here pretty well.”

American Brian Gay will start his day three shots back in second place, having reached six under after 12 holes when play was called off.

Four players make up a chasing pack in third — Trey Mullinax, Keith Mitchell, CT Pan and DA Points — who will resume on 12 under.

Third round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Wyndham Championship (USA unless stated, par 70):

Collated scores for the players who had finished 3rd round before the day’s play got suspended

199 Michael Thompson 66 70 63
200 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 69 67 64, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 67 67 66, Martin Laird(Sco)69 66 65, Webb Simpson 66 68 66, Jamie Lovemark66 70 64
201 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 69 68 64, Kevin Tway 67 69 65, Tom Hoge69 66 66
202 Chris Kirk 69 65 68, Shawn Stefani 68 68 66, Patrick Rodgers68 67 67, Rafael Cabrera-Bello(Spa) 68 69 65, Matthew Fitzpatrick(Eng)70 67 65
203 Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 68 69 66, Hudson Swafford 67 70 66, Mackenzie Hughes(Can)68 68 67, Sam Saunders 66 70 67, Scott Piercy70 67 66, Johnson Wagner70 66 67
204 Danny Lee (Nzl) 68 69 67, Harold Varner III 66 69 69, Roberto Diaz(Mex)68 69 67, Dylan Meyer 67 68 69, William McGirt69 68 67, Jonas Blixt(Swe)69 68 67
205 Billy Hurley III 68 69 68, Sam Ryder 72 64 69, Bill Haas69 68 68, Chesson Hadley 68 68 69, Lanto Griffin69 68 68
206 Ricky Barnes 66 70 70, Stephan Jaeger (Ger) 67 68 71, Martin Flores64 73 69, Blayne Barber68 69 69
207 Xin-jun Zhang (Chn) 68 67 72, Ollie Schniederjans 64 73 70, Graeme McDowell(NIrl)70 67 70
208 Jason Kokrak 69 68 71, Julian Suri 71 66 71
209 Richy Werenski 68 69 72
210 Conrad Shindler 69 68 73