Brooks Koepka strengthened his grip on the 87th Masters before unrelenting rain at Augusta National forced play to be suspended for the day.
Koepka took a two-shot lead into the delayed third round and had doubled his advantage over Jon Rahm in the space of just five holes as greenkeeping staff battled to remove standing water from a number of greens.
The final group had reached the seventh green by the time play was called off at 3.15pm local time, with Koepka on 13-under-par and Rahm nine under.
US Amateur champion Sam Bennett was three strokes further back, with Matt Fitzpatrick, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa all on five under.
The third round will start at 1.30pm Irish time on Sunday with the final round set to begin at 5.30pm with a two tee start.
Irish pair Shane Lowry and Seamus Power were, like the majority of the field, struggling in the tough conditions.
Lowry had started the third round on four-under-par, but had dropped two shots by the time the hooter sounded while he was on the 10th hole.
The Offaly man started with a bogey after his approach came up a club short and rolled back off the green. Lowry's chipped third shot was good but his putt horse-shoed around the hole.
A long-range birdie putt at the third was the perfect tonic in response, but bogeys at the fourth – after going left off the tee – and the ninth, after again seeing his approach hit the front and roll back off the green, left him 11 shots off the lead when play was halted.
Power meanwhile was one-over-par for the round and two-over-par overall as he too was called in after nine holes.
The Waterford native had started on the 10th tee and opened with four straight pars before a run of two bogeys and a birdie between the 14th and 16th.
Similar to Lowry, Power's first dropped shot came because of a second shot hitting the green and rolling back off it with his eventual par putt pushed just past the right-hand side of the cup.
He responded with a birdie following a beautiful controlled third shot at the par-five 15th but gave that shot up instantly after finding sand off the tee at the par-three 16th.
Elsewhere, Tiger Woods had slumped to last place of the 54 players to make the cut after covering his first seven holes in six-over-par.
Koepka and Rahm had both made birdie on the par-five second when the third round got under way, but Rahm bogeyed the fourth after a wayward tee shot and then three-putted the next from long range.
Woods was enduring a miserable afternoon, dropping shots on the 10th and 14th before carding consecutive double bogeys on the 15th and 16th.
It was the first time in his career that Woods had made a double bogey on the par-three 16th and also the first time that he had recorded back-to-back double bogeys.
Woods had earlier enjoyed a little unintentional help from his friends as he made a record-equalling 23rd consecutive cut in the Masters.
The 15-time major winner had seven holes of his second round to complete when play resumed at 8am and followed three pars with a birdie on the 15th to get inside the projected cut mark.
However, dropped shots on the 17th and 18th left Woods on three over par and needing help from elsewhere to join Gary Player (1959-82) and Fred Couples (1983-2007) in the record books.
That assistance immediately arrived as good friend Justin Thomas badly hooked his tee shot on the 17th and went on to bogey the hole, dropping to three over himself and moving the cut to the same score.
Thomas also bogeyed the 18th to miss the cut as 54 players qualified for the last 36 holes on three over.
Speaking before the cut had been confirmed, Woods said: "I’ve always loved this golf course and I love playing this event. Obviously I’ve missed a couple with some injuries, but I’ve always wanted to play here.
"I hope I get a chance to play this weekend. I wish I get a chance to play two more rounds."
Additional reporting: PA
