May 1, 2016 3 min read

Jhonattan Vegas birdied two of five holes he was able to play in the rain-delayed third round of the Zurich Classic Sunday, giving him a share of the lead with Brian Stuard.

Tournament officials cut the event to 54 holes in an attempt to finish play Monday.

Vegas made birdie putts from beyond 7 feet on the first two holes to reach 13 under, then parred three straight before steady rain, accompanied by intermittent thunder, forced organizers to clear the water-logged TPC Louisiana after little more than two hours of play.

Stuard, who has not made a bogey in the tournament, had one birdie Sunday. Like Vegas, he’ll resume play on the sixth hole.

Top-ranked Jason Day was in a five-way tie for fifth at 10 under through 44 holes.

Rain, which also delayed play Thursday and Saturday, is again forecast today.

The Zurich Classic is the first PGA Tour event to be shortened to 54 holes since the 2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. The last Monday finish was the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in early February.

Play was suspended a just after 10 a.m. time and tournament officials waited hopefully through a delay of more than six hours before finally calling off play for the day and shortening the tournament.

“I’m just trying to stay awake right now. It’s been a really long day,” Vegas, a Venezuelan with one career PGA Tour triumph, said during the delay. “Just got to find a way to relax and keep the mind calm.”

He said he was focused on “doing things simple” in conditions that were sloppy but hardly unfamiliar to him.

“I grew up in a place that rained a lot,” Vegas said. “The big thing here (is) just being able to hit the ball clean, especially when it’s muddy and so wet.

“It should be a fun finish,” he added.

Locally, Steve Wheatcroft is 6-under par, tied for 33 with 11 holes to complete.

Shin wins LPGA event: Jenny Shin won the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout for her first LPGA Tour victory, pulling away for a two-stroke victory at Las Colinas.

Making her 133rd tour start, Shin closed with a 4-under 67 to finish at 14-under 270. The 23-year-old South Korean player went to high school in Torrance, Calif., and won the 2006 U.S. Girls’ Junior.

“I have nothing on my mind,” Shin said. “I have absolutely nothing. I think it will hit me when everything is over and when I get on a plane and get home to my mum.”

Third-round leader Gerina Piller, the area resident seeking her first tour victory, birdied the final hole for a 73 to tie for second with South Koreans Amy Yang and Mi Jung Hur. Yang and Hur each shot 71.

Shin birdied three of the first five holes, added another on the par-5 10th. She closed with eight pars the last an up-and-down save from right of the green on the par-5 18th.

“I actually didn’t know I was in front of everybody, I thought Amy Yang was only one stroke behind so I was really nervous on the last hole,” Shin said.

Piller lives in Plano, about 20 miles from Las Colinas. The long-hitting U.S. Solheim Cup hero grew up in Roswell, N.M., and played at the University Texas-El Paso. She has four straight top-six finishes.