Burns still leads after windy day

His margin is down to two shots after play is suspended nearly four hours by winds.

Play at Riviera is suspended for almost four hours, and third round isn’t over.

While everyone held on to their hats on a gusty Saturday at Riviera, Sam Burns held on to his lead.

Through 13 holes, Burns had a two-stroke edge on the field at 10 under par in the uncompleted third round of the Genesis Invitational when play was called for darkness at 5:43 p.m.

The tournament was suspended for nearly four hours earlier in the day when wind whipped across the course, swaying trees and causing unstruck balls to roll across the greens.

“I was on the chipping green hitting chips and balls were coming off the green,” said Burns, 24, who is seeking his first PGA Tour victory and began the day with a five-shot lead at 12 under. “I was like, if it continues to be like this, eventually there’s going to be a halt of play. So I don’t know, just trying to kind of go with the flow.”

Tournament director Steve Rintoul said event organizers were anticipating winds of 10 to 15 mph but adjusted their thinking when the gusts reached 35 mph.

“We had a piece of communications equipment fall down very close to some players on the 14th tee,” Rintoul said, “which really makes us as a committee step back and say maybe we need to go ahead and suspend now because it gets really more dangerous out there, and that was ultimately the decision.”

Twenty-three players had not finished the third round when play was suspended.

The third round will restart at 6:50 a.m. Sunday, with the final round to follow with approximate Round 4 tee times from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Matthew Fitzpatrick, who has one hole to go in the third round, is alone in second at eight under. Tied at seven under are Dustin Johnson, Max Homa and Wyndham Clark.

Jordan Spieth birdied three of his first six holes to get to nine under, then collapsed with bogeys on five of the next nine holes. He has three holes remaining in the third round and is six shots behind Burns.

Photographs by Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times SAM BURNS HITS a brilliant shot out of the sand to set up a birdie on the signature 10th hole, but he bogeyed two of the next three holes.

VOLUNTEERS TAKE A BREAK near the second green at Riviera while play was stopped for almost four hours Saturday because of high winds.