The afternoon wave on Friday, including German Hammer, were forced to wait for more than three hours due to lightning, with several groups having to return early on Saturday morning to complete their second rounds.

Hammer, who managed to finish just before play was suspended due to darkness, was pleased that he was able to regroup and take advantage of the calmer conditions that followed the weather delay.

“The front nine was pretty tough with the wind,” he said. “It took me a couple of holes to figure out how far the ball was going, but after the break there was no wind, which was nice.

“I guess we got kind of lucky there. My game felt a lot better on the back nine as well.

“It definitely felt like an opportunity after the break. It felt like you could hit more normal shots, and with no wind you can have a lot of chances if you get yourself into position.”

Starting on the back nine in strong winds, the German made two birdies and one bogey to turn in 35 strokes, before the adverse weather halted his momentum.

But the wind all but disappeared after the break, leaving the course at the mercy of Hammer and his opposition, and the 27-year-old capitalised, making three birdies without a dropped shot to maintain his buffer heading into the weekend.

“We were rushing to finish,” Hammer added. “We were saying in our group we just needed one guy to tee off on the last before something goes off. We all didn’t want to wake up early in the morning.

“My approach will be the same tomorrow. Just try to play my game, stay focused, and still try to stay aggressive out there. I don’t want to change any tactics or whatever, just try to go out there and enjoy it, that’s the biggest thing.”

Behind Hammer in outright second is England’s Barclay Brown, who carded a second round eight under par 64 to reach 11 under for the tournament. Italy’s Lorenzo Scalise and English duo John Gough and Andrew Wilson all sit at ten under, with Wilson still to play three holes of his second round.

Round two will resume at 08:00am local time, with round three not starting before 10:00am.