Francesco Molinari was hot on the heels of leader Jason Dufner as play resumed at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
US PGA Champion Dufner raced to five under par at the re-designed Blue Monster to lead before the first round was suspended by high winds and the threat of a tornado.
After a delay of two hours and 25 minutes, the US Ryder Cup star carded his first bogey of the day at the second – his 11th – after missing an eight foot par putt shortly after the resumption of play.
However, at four under par Dufner remained one in front of compatriots Hunter Mahan and Patrick Reed, as well as Molinari.
Having birdied the first and seventh on the way out, Molinari got up and down from short of the green at the par five 12th to reach three under.
Before the break, Dufner had made an electric start. He holed a 20 foot putt at the 11th, also birdied the 12th, fired his tee shot to ten feet at the 13th tee shot to ten feet, and made it four gains in as many holes with a 12 footer at the next.
Former World Number Ones Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Martin Kaymer had all made their way to three under on the opening day, but had slipped to one under, level par and three over respectively at the toughened Doral venue.
South African pair Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel were amongst those tied for fifth on two under, with Miguel Angel Jiménez and Adam Scott in the group a shot further back.
The Australian can knock Tiger Woods off the top of the Official World Golf Ranking this week, and the World Number One was one over at the turn.
