Hiroyuki Fujita was leading the U.S. Senior Open by three strokes with only eight holes left to play in the final round when severe weather caused the tournament to be postponed. The tournament was halted due to storms at Newport Country Club in Newport, R.I., and play will resume on Monday.
At the time of the postponement, Fujita was 2 under for the day on the 7,024-yard, par-70 course. Richard Bland made a strong start by birdieing the first three holes, moving into second place with 13 under for the tournament and eight holes remaining. Richard Green was also playing well at 1 under for the day and 12 under for the tournament. Steve Stricker, the runner-up in the U.S. Senior Open for the past two years, fell behind by six shots after being 2 over for the fourth round.
Vijay Singh made a late surge by being 4 under through 15 holes, tying for fifth place and trailing Fujita by nine shots. Ernie Els was also playing solid golf with 5 under through 15 holes and tied for eighth place.
The tournament organizers had to navigate through morning fog and severe weather forecasts to schedule the play. The leaders teed off two hours late and were on the 11th tee when the thunderstorms hit at 3 p.m. Fujita had managed to pull away from his playing partners, Stricker and Green, by that point. Bland, who started the day five strokes back, was in second place after being 4 under for the day at the turn.
Fujita, a two-time MVP on the Japan Golf Tour, has never won on American soil and had struggled to break 70 in PGA Tour Champions rounds. However, he has led wire-to-wire in this tournament, with impressive accuracy off the tee by hitting 49 of 50 fairways, including 38 in a row. Despite making only his second bogey of the tournament on the third hole, he managed to birdie the ninth and reach 16 under.
The tournament promises an exciting conclusion as play resumes on Monday, with Fujita aiming to secure his first victory on American soil and hold off the competition to claim the U.S. Senior Open title.