2 May 2005	Monday	22 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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SHANGHAI, May 1: Ernie Els edged closer to the Asian Open title on Sunday as he surged to 22 under par but the world number three must wait until Monday to finish the job. Heavy storms halted play for over three hours on Sunday morning before most players had even started the final round at Shanghai’s Tomson Golf Club.

Els picked up three more birdies over the six holes he managed to complete in fading light to stretch his lead over Britain’s Simon Wakefield to eight strokes. However, the South African was clearly unhappy at the decision by organisers for the tournament to be decided over the full 72 holes.

“It’s just chaos now for everybody,” shrugged Els, who will finish his round early on Monday. “The sponsor wants 72 holes but obviously the players are not too happy. Thunder and lightning brought play to a halt at 8:55am local (0155 GMT) and did not resume until just after noon.

Incomplete scores after play was suspended due to darkness:

-22 — Ernie Els (South Africa) 67, 62, 68 (after 60 holes).

-14 — Simon Wakefield (Britain) 67, 69, 66 (after 60).

-12 — Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 71, 65, 68 (after 61).

-11 — Jean-Francois Lucquin (France) 70, 66, 69 (after 61).

-10 — Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 69, 68, 70 (after 62); Eddie Lee (New Zealand) 67, 66, 73 (after 61).

-9 — Stuart Little (Britain) 71, 70, 72, 66 (after 72); Luke Donald (Britain) 70, 69, 68 (after 62).

-8 — Wade Ormsby (Australia) 72, 67, 71 (after 65); Lian-Wei Zhang (China) 70, 71, 69 (after 65).

-7 — Peter Hedblom (Sweden) 72, 69, 70 (after 69); Jyoti Randhawa (India) 70, 74, 67 (after 68); James Kingston (South Africa) 70, 71, 69 (after 65); David Park (Britain) 70, 69, 71 (after 65); Edward Michaels (United States) 74, 69, 67 (after 64).

-6 — Patrik Sjoeland (Sweden) 70, 68, 72 (after 67); Jean Van de Velde (France) 67, 69, 72 (after 62); Soren Hansen (Denmark) 69, 70, 68 (after 61).

-5 — Joong Kyung Mo (South Korea) 73, 68, 70 (after 69); Simon Dyson (Britain) 70, 74, 66 (after 64); Raphael Jacquelin (France) 67, 67, 75 (after 64); Richard Sterne (South Africa) 69; 69; 71 (after 64); Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 67, 70, 71 (after 62).

PLAY DISRUPTED

NEW ORLEANS: Chris DiMarco moved into a one-shot lead over a surging James Driscoll at the $5.5 million Zurich Classic of New Orleans when third-round play was suspended due to darkness on Saturday.

After two tournaments without disruptions, the foul weather that has blighted the PGA Tour this season returned, with heavy rain and severe thunderstorms at the TPC at Louisiana delaying the start of play five hours.

Incomplete scores on Saturday:

-12 — Chris DiMarco (United States) 65, 71 (after 46 holes).

-11 — James Driscoll (United States) 68, 71 (after 47).

-10 — Arjun Atwal (India) 65, 68 (after 46).

-9 — Tim Petrovic (United States) 72, 69 (after 50); Lucas Glover (United States) 69, 68 (after 46); J.J. Henry (United States) 67, 67 (after 45).

-8 — Chris Anderson (United States) 70, 70 (after 50); Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 68, 71 (after 47); Richard S. Johnson (Sweden) 70, 68 (after 46); Hidemichi Tanaka (Japan) 69, 70 (after 46); Tim Clark (South Africa) 67, 69 (after 46); Vijay Singh (Fiji) 67, 71 (after 46).

-7 — Bo Van Pelt (United States) 73, 70 (after 54).

-6 — Jay Williamson (United States) 71, 71 (after 54); Woody Austin (United States) 71, 70 (after 50); Brian Davis (Britain) 71, 69 (after 48); Craig Bowden (United States) 69, 71 (after 47); Kirk Triplett (United States) 71, 69 (after 47); Hank Kuehne (United States) 69, 69 (after 46).

-5 — Davis Love III (United States) 72, 70 (after 53); D.J. Trahan (United States) 72, 72 (after 52); Daniel Chopra (Sweden) 71, 70 (after 50); Frank Lickliter II (United States) 70, 70 (after 48); John Rollins (United States) 71, 69 (after 48).—Reuters