Ernie Els and Oliver Wilson were within a shot of clubhouse leader Lam Chin Bing at the weather-interrupted Barclays Singapore Open on Thursday when darkness ended play at Sentosa Golf Club with half the field yet to finish their first round.
After a lightning storm halted play for more two hours, Lam completed his opening round on four-under 67, one stroke ahead of Australia's Marcus Both and three ahead of Austria's Markus Brier, Korea's Charlie Wi and China's Zhang Lian-wei in the US dollars 5million Asian Tour event.
Teeing off in the afternoon, Els picked up an eagle on the fourth and had two more birdies, offset by a lone bogey, as he moved to three under through 14 holes.
Wilson had birdies on the fourth, sixth and 10th and the Englishman was bogey-free through 12 holes when play was halted with 71 players still on the course.
India's Digvijay Singh joined them on that mark after firing four birdies and a bogey through 11 holes.
World number five Padraig Harrington bogeyed his final hole for a one-over 72 while Phil Mickelson overcame a poor start to shoot a 73.
Darren Clarke was tied with Mickelson on two over while two-time Singapore Open winner Adam Scott had seven bogeys in his disastrous round of 76.
But it was Lam who stole the limelight after sparkling in soggy conditions at the Serapong course.
The 31-year-old made an excellent start after teeing off on the back nine with a birdie on his first hole and three in four just before the turn.
He dropped his only shot of the day when he missed a 20-footer for par at the fifth but a birdie on the eighth put him back on top on four under.
"It's jus another tournament for me," said the Singaporean, who secured a place at this year's Open Championship with a top-four finish in the qualifier at the same course.
"Even though it's our national open and the biggest tournament on the Asian Tour, I still have to go out there and do my job no matter what. So it's just going to be another day at the office for me tomorrow.
"Being familiar with a golf course is a little bit overrated. At the end of the day, you still have to go out and produce the shots.
"But being at home, sleeping in my own bed and getting the crowd behind me is definitely a boost."
Harrington, a notoriously slow starter, was let down by his bogey at the last but felt encouraged by his opening effort.
"It certainly had the potential to be better but it is a 72 and I am encouraged by the way I hit it," said the Irishman, who had three birdies and four bogeys.
"I feel good. I am enthusiastic about playing and keen to get out there. I played nicely out there today and that is encouraging for the next couple of days.
"I do need to score a little better but I need to be a little patient when it comes to that."
Mickelson, meanwhile, was encouraged with his score after bogeying three of his first four holes.
"I know two over par does not sound good but I will actually take it. I got off to a terrible start and I was three over early," said the American.
"This is the worst chipping round I have had in years that I can remember. I hit five or six of the worst chips I have hit for a long time.
"I do not feel I shot myself out of the tournament by any means and a good round tomorrow will get me right back in it.
"Anything in the 60s will put me right back in it. I do not think anybody is going to go too far under par here."
The opening round will resume at 7.30am on Friday (2330 GMT Thursday).
Latest first round scores in the Asian Tour Barclays Singapore Open, Sentosa GC, Singapore, Singapore (Par 71)
First round suspended - to resume at 7.30am local time on Friday.
67 Lam Chih Bing (Sin)
68 Marcus Both (Aus)
70 Markus Brier (Aut), Charlie Wi (Kor), Zhang Lian-Wei (Chn)
71 Ben Leong (Mal), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Park Jun-Won (Kor), Jason King (Aus), Somkiat Srisanga (Tha)
72 Padraig Harrington (Irl), Gonzalo Fdz-Castano (Spa), Simon Dunn, Adam Blyth (Aus), Mars Pucay (Phi), Scott Barr (Aus)
73 Steven Tiley (Eng), Darren Clarke (Nirl), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Phil Mickelson (USA), Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind), Arjun Singh (Ind), Young Nam (Kor), Darren Beck (Aus), Kodai Ichihara (Jpn)
74 Chan Yih-Shin (Tai), Gaurav Ghei (Ind), Danny Lee (Nzl), Liang Wen-Chong (Chn), Jason Knutzon (USA), Muhammad Munir (Pak), Neven Basic (Aus), Guido Van Der Valk (Ned), Rhys Davies (Wal), Thammanoon Srirot (Tha), Dinesh Chand (Fij)
75 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Han Lee (Kor), Wang Ter-Chang (Tai), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Richard Sterne (Rsa), Kwanchai Tannin (Tha), Shaaban Hussin (Mal), M Murugiah (Sin), Anthony Kang (USA),S Siva Chandhran (Mal), Kim Nam-Kang (Kor)
76 Pornsakon Tipsanit (Tha), Mo Joong-Kyung (Kor), Unho Park (Aus), Takuya Taniguchi (Jpn), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Arjun Atwal (Ind), Adam Scott (Aus), Udorn Duangdecha (Tha), Wisut Artjanawat (Tha), Ted Oh (Kor), Kao Bo-Song (Tai)
77 Rashid Ismail (Mal), Ekalak Waisayakul (Tha), Hsu Mong-Nan (Tai), Will Yanagisawa (USA), Yasin Ali (Eng)
78 Ferdinand Aunzo (Phi), Angelo Que (Phi), Gary Simpson (Aus), Lien Lu-Sen (Tai)
79 Mahal Pearce (Nzl), Frankie Minoza (Phi), Ross Bain (Sco), Danny Chia (Mal), Ashley Hall (Aus)
80 Anirban Lahiri (Ind), Stephen Scahill (Nzl)
83 Gary Kwek, Iain Steel (Mal)
84 Patrick Tang (Sin)
Retired: Bryan Saltus (USA)
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