Rory Mcllroy was two over par after completing five holes of his third round on Saturday evening before inclement weather and darkness forced organizers to suspend play for the day at 7.09 p.m. local time.

Before the end of play Saturday, Mcllroy began his round on the back nine and rattled off five straight pars, including a great save on 12.

"I was a good 225 (yards) to the hole and had a long par putt. I hit it pretty hard, but it found the back of the hole. It was a nice par. Obviously in the U.S. Open you are going to struggle to make some pars, especially with conditions like today, so it is nice when you can save them. I was pretty pleased with how I played today, to be able to come in even par and get a couple holes behind me," he said afterwards.

The Open debutant couldn't say enough about the fans enthusiasm over a very long and wet Saturday and the atmosphere that was generated throughout the course. "It was incredible. it felt like a Ryder Cup out there. The crowd really got behind us, so it was a lot of fun."

Mcllroy finished his second round at the U.S. Open Saturday morning, shooting a level par 70 at Bethpage Black course at Farmingdale in New York to go two over par for the tournament.

Mcllroy was out early Saturday morning to finish his rain delayed second round, and three birdies and three bogeys over the round saw the 20-year-old finish play in regulation score.

The Hollywood, County Down man had two birdies on the front nine at 2 and 6 , but gave a shot back at the third hole to go out in 34. On the back nine, Mcllroy birdied the 11th, gave shots away at 12 and 14 and finished with four pars.

Ricky Barnes is the tournament leader on eight under par after shooting a second round 65.  Lucas Glover is one shot behind after carding a 64, and 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir is two shots behind after a level par 70 second round. None of the three at the top of the leaderboard got out on the course before play was suspended.