JOHANNESBURG: Home prospect Brandon Stone sank five birdies in 11 holes of the third round to move to 10 under par and join Daniel Brooks on top of the leader board at the South African Open on Saturday before play was suspended because of a thunderstorm.

It was the third successive day that inclement weather on South Africa’s Highveld had prematurely ended play at Glendower Golf Club with the field being summoned off the course at 3.25 p.m. local time (1325 GMT) because of the threat of lightning.

Englishman Brooks started the day early to complete 11 holes of the second round, going to a two-round total of 135, nine under par, with a one-shot lead over South African Keith Horne.

Brooks picked up a further stroke over the first nine of the third round but needs to get up early again on Sunday to complete the second nine and then the final round.

Horne was two shots back after being on level par for his first nine of the third round with compatriots Chris Swanepoel and rookie Christiaan Bezuidenhout a further shot back.

Meantime, Ernie Els is determined to put struggles with his short putting game behind him by working with a changed grip and playing golf “properly” again this year after battling with the yips.

The 46-year-old four-times major champion has missed some crucial short putts over the last year and again at the South African Open this week, where he duffed one from 18 inches on his way to missing the cut.

“I’m really looking forward to playing golf properly this year. I’m tired of being uncomfortable on those little puts. I want to give this cross handed method a real go,” he said during a stint of television commentary on Saturday during the third round of the European Tour event at the Glendower Golf Club.

Els has tried the grip, where the left hand is low, briefly before, but has struggled with the yips, a nervous condition in which athletes suddenly lose their ability to perform a certain skill.

He still feels positive about his game even after describing 2015 as his worst year in golf as he plummeted to 191st in the world rankings.

“I am really very comfortable in life, in general, I’m having a good time out there. Like Bobby Locke once said, he’s never seen a grumpy good putter. But you see a lot of grumpy bad putters,” the South African said.

Els, British Open champion in 2012, said he would play in Abu Dhabi and Qatar on the European Tour this month before heading to the US PGA Tour.

“Depending on the weather I’m going to start my season at Pebble Beach (Feb. 11-14) or Riviera (Feb. 18-21),” he said.