Dense sea fog halted the Genesis Scottish Open twice Saturday, leaving Michael Thorbjornsen and Matt Fitzpatrick tied atop a packed leaderboard.
The Genesis Scottish Open has officially become a Sunday survival test.
A thick wave of sea fog swallowed The Renaissance Club on Saturday, forcing officials to postpone the completion of the third round and creating a brutal final-day schedule for the tournament’s leading contenders.
Michael Thorbjornsen and Matt Fitzpatrick were tied at 11 under when worsening visibility stopped play for the second time.
Thorbjornsen had completed 13 holes, while Fitzpatrick was through eight, meaning both will return Sunday morning with significant work still ahead before the final round can even begin.
Third-round play is scheduled to resume at 7 a.m. local time, or 2 a.m. ET. The fourth round won’t start before 10:15 a.m. local time, with players grouped in threesomes and sent from the first tee.
For the 36-hole leaders, that could mean playing more than 27 holes in one exhausting day.
Johnny Keefer won’t need to finish his third round after posting a blistering 7-under 64 to claim the clubhouse lead at 10 under.
His charge transformed the leaderboard and placed him directly behind Thorbjornsen and Fitzpatrick.
Keefer is hardly alone.
Kevin Roy, Wyndham Clark, defending champion Chris Gotterup, Min Woo Lee and Jordan Smith also sit at 10 under, creating a traffic jam near the top and leaving Sunday wide open.
Saturday’s disruption began at 10:45 a.m. local time when play was stopped because golfers could no longer see clearly through the fog.
Rain and low cloud arrived with a cold front moving down from northwest Scotland, keeping players off the course for more than two hours.
Competition resumed at 1:10 p.m., but the window didn’t last. Officials suspended play again at 7:55 p.m. as visibility deteriorated.
The culprit was “haar,” a cold and damp sea mist that moves inland from the North Sea and regularly affects Scotland’s eastern coastline.
It turned an already demanding links-style test into something nearly unplayable.
Now the tournament’s biggest challenge may not be wind, rough or putting surfaces.
It may be endurance.
Thorbjornsen, Fitzpatrick and the chasing pack must complete unfinished business, reset quickly and then fight through an entire final round with the title on the line. One long, chaotic Sunday will decide everything.
