Third round at Phoenix Open suspended as Taylor leads the way

The rain-plagued Phoenix Open finished its second round on Saturday but couldn't get through the third, with Shane Lowry and Seamus Power among those affected when play was halted due to darkness.

It was a busy day for Lowry who played 17 holes of his second round - carding a one-under par round of 70 - before starting into his third round.

Lowry bookended the front nine with bogeys, but birdies at the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th had the 36-year-old moving in the right direction.

A superb approach shot at the par-4 10th, where he landed within a foot of the hole, set up his fifth birdie of the round.

A two-putt bogey at the 14th saw Lowry drop a shot on his final hole before play was suspended. He sits on seven-under par, a tie for 19th and half a dozen shots off leader Nick Taylor.

Seamus Power, who began his third round at the 10th, parred all 10 of his holes before he was forced to stop. The Waterford native is on two-under par.

Play is set to resume today at 2.30pm Irish time.

Canadian Taylor leads the field at 13-under through six holes of his third round.

His birdie at the par-4 fifth hole gave him the lead and a boost on a long day.

"Yeah, it felt like we waited every shot, so it was pretty long, but it was nice to make a long putt there and make birdie when I feel like I kind of let one go on three," said Taylor, who opened the tournament by tying the course record at TPC Scottsdale with an 11-under 60.

Sahith Theegala, who held a one-shot lead when the second round was completed earlier in the day, played the first six holes of the third round at one-over.

Doug Ghim, who completed seven holes of the third round, started with birdies at the first and third and moved into a tie for third with Andrew Novak. They are two shots back