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By Joe Chemycz
PGA TOUR Staff

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand -- Steady rains forced the suspension of play midway through round two of the HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship on Friday.

Officials had halted play for 80 minutes earlier in the day before water-soaked greens and fairways stopped things for good at 5:50 p.m. with half the field yet to complete 36 holes in the event co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour and Australasian Tour.

The players will return to complete round two beginning at 8:00 a.m. Saturday. Following the 36-hole cut, round three will begin after noon.

Of those who safely navigated the Clearwater Resort on a day better suited for ducks, American Michael Letzig is the leader in the clubhouse, adding a 4-under 68 to his opening 69 for a 7-under 137 total.

Australian Peter Senior, Chez Reavie and first-round leader Ryan Howison are also at 7-under with several holes to go. Sal Spallone is at 6-under with five to play.

"You expect it, but it wasn't really that bad until the last three holes when it started raining really hard," said Reavie, who will be staring at an eight-foot birdie putt on his 14th hole when play resumes. "You just have to stay patient out there on a day like today. You're not going to hit every shot the way you want to, but you have to realize it's tough for everybody and everybody's playing through it."

Reavie, a Kansas native who lives in Arizona and doesn't get all that much practice in such conditions, admitted that the rain actually serves a higher purpose.

"A lot of guys get real upset when this happens, but that doesn't help. I try to stay as calm as I can. You just have to roll with the punches," he said. "I tend to focus more in conditions like this because you have to. I think it's good for me. I wish I could be this focused all the time."

While Reavie and the other 78 players sleep on what's left to do, Letzig can enjoy what he's done so far. The 26-year old from Missouri was 1 under par through 11 holes when play was halted during his morning round. After the delay, the former University of New Mexico standout ripped an 8-iron to within two feet for birdie on his first hole and then added two more birdies before a pair of sand-saving pars to close out the round.

"I was disappointed they pulled us off the course," said Letzig, who tied for 26th at last week's Jacob's Creek Open Championship in Australia. "You never know in that situation how you're going to come back or how long it's going to be. The air was heavy and the ball just wasn't going anywhere today."

Chasing Letzig are New Zealander Phil Tataurangi (68-139) along with Aussies James Nitties (70-139) and Bradley Hughes (69-140).

Second-Round Notes: Second-round play was suspended from 11:40 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. due to persistent rains. Play was suspended again at 5:50 p.m. and called for the day a short time later with half the field still on the course. The low 60 players and ties will advance to the third and fourth rounds. The current projected cut has 63 players at even-par. Brett Rumford withdrew due to a back injury after 15 holes. Steven Bowditch withdrew after 15 holes due to a wrist injury. Leigh McKechnie withdrew after 12 holes due to a wrist injury. The current second-round scoring average midway through the round is 73.773.

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