Hideki Matsuyama was closing in on clubhouse leader Kevin Kisner when play was suspended due to the threat of lightning on day two of the US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club.
Kisner had fired a second consecutive 67 in the morning to get to eight under and for a long period held a four-shot lead but Matsuyama then made his move.
The World Number Three birdied the fifth and seventh and rattled off three in a row from the 12th to get to six under when the horn sounded to bring the players off at 4.43pm local time. Play was set to resume at 6.25pm.
Jason Day - the 2015 champion - was also on the move, going eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie from the seventh to get to five under after ten holes, a shot clear of Louis Oosthuizen who also had eight holes to complete.
American Chris Stroud was also at four under after six holes, with Rickie Fowler in the clubhouse a further shot back.
Kisner had birdied the 18th on Thursday to share the lead and he carried that momentum into round two, making gains on the tenth and 12th to move ahead. He then dropped a shot on the next but re-established a two-shot cushion on the 15th.
Nine pars followed but a 48-foot putt from off the seventh green brought an eagle and the 33 year old had a commanding advantage midway through the day.
Matsuyama won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last week with a closing 61 and brought that form to Charlotte with some imperious iron play.
He birdied the fifth and seventh from seven and six feet and then holed from 12 feet on the 12th. Two more six-footers followed on the 13th and 14th as his stunning approach play made making birdies look easy.
Day had bogeyed the third but his approach to the seventh set up a tap-in eagle before he hit an approach to five feet on the eighth. An 18-footer on the ninth saw him turn in 32 and when he took advantage of the par five tenth, he was three off the lead.
Oosthuizen was also dialled in with his approach play as he birdied the tenth, 14th and 16th, while Stroud had three birdies and two bogeys.
Fowler bogeyed the 12th after a poor tee-shot but an approach to three feet on the 14th and a tee-shot to 15 feet on the 17th helped him back into red numbers before ten straight pars.
Byeong-hun An was then at two under after a 69.
The South Korean bogeyed the first but chipped in for an eagle on the seventh to turn in 34. His back nine was then a roller coaster with four birdies and three bogeys seeing the 2015 BMW PGA Championship winner sit six shots off the lead.
Francesco Molinari, Shane Lowry, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas were also at two under playing the back nine, with New Zealander Ryan Fox a further shot back after producing the round of the week so far with a 66.
