Justin Rose kept his composure to par the 18th and card an impressive 67 when the weather-delayed second round of the US PGA Championship resumed on Saturday morning.
The Englishman was on the final tee at Whistling Straits when the hooter sounded on Friday night due to approaching storms and the course was then battered by the inclement weather as play was abandoned.
The World Number Six was unruffled, however, and when he returned at 0700 on a glorious morning he found the green in two and took two putts from 77 feet to safely get into the clubhouse at eight under, three shots behind leader Matt Jones.
Rose had recorded eight birdies, a double and two bogeys in his previous 17 holes and was glad to get off the par four 18th, which has been playing the toughest hole on the course over the first two rounds, unscathed.
"It's not the sort of hole you want to sleep on really!" he said. "But I did what I needed to do, hit a long tee shot down there, didn't get all of the approach but managed to make a decent two putt for par.
"The way that hole is averaging, par is almost like a birdie effectively. I'm liking the position I'm in, though, and I'm going to have to keep on playing well because Jason Day is obviously looking great.
"In terms of now, I'll head back to the hotel, maybe try to take a nap, have two breakfasts and three lunches and get back here for round three!"
He added: "It's a unique set of circumstances. This is where you just rely upon your experience, I suppose.
"Once I get back to the course this afternoon, it will be just falling into my normal routine."
Jones picked up two birdies after the resumption, including a 56 foot putt on the eighth, and he will make up an all-Australian final group in round three with Jason Day.
"I haven't played with Jason for years," he said. "I can't tell you when I last played with him. But I seen a lot of him on TV lately.
"He's playing pretty well so it will be good for me to just sit back and watch him play and we'll just have some fun together and try to keep each other relaxed."
He added: "It's amazing to be in the lead at a Major. I've been in the lead on a Tour event, but a Major's a different story.
"But I'm going to have fun with it, and I'm pretty relaxed on the golf course.
I'm sure I'll be nervous on the first tee, but playing with Jason will be great and (Day's caddie) Col (Swatton). I always have fun with Col, so that will be a fun time."
The hooter had sounded moments after Day hit his approach into the 15th but he made a routine par on resumption and then got on in two and two putted from 55 feet for birdie on the par five 16th.
A par on the 17th followed but the last claimed another victim as he finished with a bogey to sit two shots behind Jones.
Day has finished in the top ten at six of the last 11 Major Championships and he believes that experience will eventually stand him in good stead.
"The experiences that I've had in the past in previous finishes, I think it's just really kind of setting me up for something big in the future," he said.
"And I just really have to keep plodding along and really keep doing the stuff that I'm working on, because clearly it's working for me through three and a half rounds."
Anirban Lahiri, who has two European Tour wins this season at the Maybank Malaysian Open and Hero Indian Open, added a 67 to his opening 70 so sit seven under alongside Swede David Lingmerth and American Tony Finau.
Masters Tournament and US Open champion Jordan Spieth was lurking in the group at six under with George Coetzee, after a 74-65 start, and first round leader Dustin Johnson a further shot back.
Hiroshi Iwata was in the group at four under after his Major record equalling second round 63 alongside German duo Martin Kaymer and Marcel Siem and South African Branden Grace.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy, Y E Yang, Henrik Stenson, Brooks Koepka and Luke Donald were amongst the pack at two under and Emiliano Grillo made the cut in his debut Major courtesy of a 70-73 start.
James Morrison was also one under after two rounds of his first US PGA Championship and fellow final Major debutant Tyrrell Hatton was level par.
Other first-timers Byeong Hun An, Eddie Pepperell and Andy Sullivan were all the wrong side of the two over cut line as was last week's World Golf Championships - Bridgestone Invitational winner Shane Lowry, Bernd Wiesberger and Padriag Harrington, who missed out by a single shot.
Tiger Woods, the 14-time Major champion, finished his week on four over while Søren Kjeldsen, playing his 500th European Tour event, was six over.
