New Orleans Classic disrupted by storms

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Heavy storms and lighting disrupted the third round of the New Orleans Classic on Saturday, forcing the tournament into a Sunday of extended play.

Four players, including second-round leader Briny Baird, were sitting atop the leaderboard at eight under par with five others, including 2005 champion Tim Petrovic, at seven under and 12 more a further shot adrift.

Baird, seeking his first PGA Tour win, birdied the last two holes on Friday to take the lead but only made it through three holes on Saturday as play was delayed two hours by the storms. He now has to play 33 holes on Sunday.

The players were set to return to the course in Avondale, Louisiana early on Sunday morning to complete the third round before the start of the fourth.

Only three of the top 21 players on the leaderboard finished their third rounds. Woody Austin, Australian Peter Lonard and Nicholas Thompson were also at eight under.

"I'm not happy," Austin told reporters after making it through 11 holes. "I was finally playing well, I was finally scoring. The whole problem has been scoring and I haven't been able to score.

"I'm going to have to hit it at 7:20 in the morning and my first shot is a 212-yard shot off the 12th fairway at 7:20 in the morning."

Petrovic survived similar conditions to rally and win on the extended final day in 2005.

"We had to come out and finish," he said. "Actually, I was playing with Woody. We had to come out and finish on Sunday morning and I think when I woke up that morning I was six shots behind."