GRAND BLANC (Michigan), Aug 2: Chris DiMarco fired a 64 on Friday and had a two-stroke lead in the Buick Open when second-round play was suspended due to darkness at the Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club.

The 2001 runner-up here, DiMarco collected nine birdies and just a single bogey for a 36-hole total of 13-under 131. That’s two shots better than David Sutherland and Paul Gow.

Thunderstorms interrupted play for more than four and a half hours, and the round was suspended due to darkness with nearly half the field on the course.

Play was to resume Saturday, with the third round slated to begin at noon with threesomes using split tees.

Leading second-round scores

131 - Chris DiMarco 67-64

133 - Paul Gow (AUS) 66-67, David Sutherland 66-67

135 - Garrett Willis 67-68, Neal Lancaster 67-68, Andrew Magee 71-64

136 - Hal Sutton 72-64, Danny Briggs 72-64, Paul Goydos 68-68, Kenny Perry 69-67

137 - Hank Kuehne 69-68, Kaname Yokoo (JPN) 69-68, John Daly 68-69, Paul Azinger 71-66, Todd Barranger 71-66

138 - Heath Slocum 67-71, Jason Buha 67-71, Briny Baird 70-68, Carlos Franco (PAR) 70-68, Kent Jones 67-71, Robert Damron 68-70, Bob Estes 72-66

139 - Greg Chalmers (AUS) 72-67, Grant Waite (NZL) 68-71

140 - Esteban Toledo (MEX) 72-68

141 - Alexander Cejka (GER) 72-69

143 - John Senden (AUS) 73-70, Per-Ulrik Johansson (SWE) 72-71

144 - David Frost (RSA) 76-68

152 - Kiyoshi Miyazato (JPN) 75-77, Akio Sadakata (JPN) 76-76.—Reuters