On a weekend of downpours, delays and depression, the only constant was Colin Montgomerie's name at the top of the leaderboard. And the holder remained in command, though he was among a large group who failed to complete their third round yesterday in the Volvo PGA Championship here on the West Course.

Play was eventually ended by a klaxon at 8.35 p.m. The plan now is to complete the third round - the last trio have five holes to play - at 7.20 this morning and then start the final round at 10.0, so completing the championship on schedule.

The weather was cruelly hostile. Indeed for a period of 12 hours from 5.0 on Saturday afternoon until 5.0 yesterday morning, an inch of rain - the normal quota for the entire month of May - saturated the course.

As it happened, in the chill of evening, two Irish players who got through the halfway cut on the limit of two over par, made dramatic headway from the tail of the field. Padraig Harrington had a spectacular eagle, birdie finish to the back nine en route to an overall position of two under with four to play while Des Smyth also prospered with three birdies, to turn one under for the championship.

Harrington, playing with Jose Maria Olazabal, was among those who started the third round at the ninth hole for logistical reasons. And by the time he had gone through the 13th, the Dubliner had slipped back to three over. So he remained until the 571-yard 17th where a three-wood second shot landed on the green, 40 feet from the pin. He then rolled in the putt for an eagle three.

Further spectacle came at the 531-yard 18th, where his drive finished in the second fairway bunker on the left. With 217 yards to the green, he took a four wood and hit the most glorious recovery to finish 25 feet right of the pin. And he almost carded a second successive eagle, when the putt hit the hole but rimmed out.

Now he was level par for the championship and in a position to make a worthwhile challenge, having appeared set for an early departure on Saturday. In a remarkable coincidence, Olazabal also covered the 17th and 18th in eagle, birdie which, in his case, kept him a stroke clear of Harrington.

From his earliest days on tour, putting has always been the key to Smyth's performances and a fine second-round of 69 on Saturday was reflected in 27 putts. As it happened, the broomhandle blade remained similarly productive yesterday.

After a dispiriting, opening bogey on the ninth, he went on to birdie the long 12th where he pitched to six feet and holed the putt. He then reduced the 481-yard 15th to a drive, five-iron and a 15-foot birdie putt, much to the delight of his 16-year-old son and caddie Gregory.

Father and son had further cause for celebration on the 18th, where a chip from just off the front edge of the green finished two feet below the hole for another birdie. From there, they set off on the outward journey where the Baltray man got to one under par for the championship through a birdie at the short second.

Darren Clarke seemed set to challenge Montgomerie for the lead, when he regained his putting touch on Saturday, using the blade only 26 times in a second successive 68. But the magic deserted him as early as the first hole yesterday, where a pulled drive into rough led to an opening bogey.

From there, he carded an untidy mixture of figures, following birdies with bogeys and he dropped another stroke at the ninth to be six under par for the championship at that stage. And he ended the day on seven under, five strokes behind the leader.

Paul McGinley also lost ground, having started with a bogey on the way to an outward 36 - one over par. And he remained that way with three holes to complete this morning. Indeed the only leading challengers to make significant progress were Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia, both of whom had got to eight under par by the time play ended for the day.

From a position of five under par and seven strokes behind Montgomerie entering the third round, the Spaniard closed the gap to three, with successive birdies at the 10th, 11th and 12th. But after he, too, had started on the first, Westwood did appreciably better, carding birdies at the 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th and 15th.

The disjointed nature of the tournament, however, was bound to take its toll. For instance, Clarke and Montgomerie, who have been in the same three-ball since the opening round last Friday, had a wait of 26 hours between finishing their second round on Saturday and starting the third at 5.10pm yesterday.

In the circumstances, Montgomerie could have been forgiven for an uncharacteristic, three-putt bogey at the first, from 25 feet. And his lead became seriously threatened for the first time when fellow Scot Andrew Contart got to 10 under par with birdies at the second and fourth.

By the time the leaders had gone through the turn, however, Montgomerie's earlier two-stroke lead over the Australian lefthander Richard Green had been restored, with Coltart now his closest challenger.