Padraig Harrington off the pace before RSM Classic first round suspended

Padraig Harrington was nine shots off the early first-round pace on three over through 14 holes before play was suspended at the RSM Classic on Thursday in St. Simons Island, Georgia.

Cameron Young, Eric Cole and Davis Thompson turned in rounds of six-under 66 to set the pace as the finale of the FedEx Cup Fall series suffered from an inclement weather delay of more than two and a half hours in the afternoon.

Play resumed at 9.18pm Irish time [4.18pm local] before darkness fell an hour later.

Ninety players in the 155-man field, including three-time major winner Harrington, will need to complete their rounds when play resumes on Friday morning.

Thursday's and Friday's rounds are split between Sea Island Golf Club's Seaside and Plantation courses.

LEADERBOARD

Playing the Seaside course, Harrington struggled on the front nine, with bogeys on the first and third, before a further setback with a double bogey on the par-4 fifth.

The Dubliner's first birdie arrived on the 11th before the action was halted after he had played his tee shot on 15.

At the top of the leaderboard, Young, Cole and Thompson all shot 66 at the Plantation course, with Young and Thompson going bogey-free.

Matt Kuchar shot a five-under 65 on the Seaside course, and Ricky Barnes and Swedish rising star Ludvig Aberg had five-under 67s at the Plantation course.

Ben Carr, Peter Kuest and Nicholas Lindheim were also tied at five under with some golf left to play.

Young, who is ranked No. 18 in the Official World Gold Ranking, is still hunting for his first career PGA Tour win.

Additional reporting: Reuters