Dustin Johnson overcomes blustery conditions to keep British Open lead

Dustin Johnson took sole possession of the lead after wrapping up his second round with a birdie on 18 to finish with a three-under 69.

Johnson looked fresh despite having to wait out a 10 1/2-hour delay because of high winds to play his final four holes of the round. His strong drives played a key role in helping him rattle off three consecutive pars despite dealing with 20 mph winds. He topped it off with a solid putt on 18 to move to 10-under for the tournament.

Johnson’s second round on Friday was interrupted by rain, and he managed to play only 32 minutes Saturday morning before play was postponed.

Danny Willett, who finished his round Friday, sits a nine under for the tournament in second. He is one shot ahead of Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champion. Jason Day, Adam Scott, Zach Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Marc Warren and Robert Streb are tied for fourth at seven under.

Masters and U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth struggled on the greens and is five shots off the lead after finishing the round with an even-par 72.

“I still believe I can win this tournament,” Spieth said in the clubhouse. “I need a really solid round tomorrow, though, because Dustin is not letting up.”

Still, Johnson might be forced to slow down if the weather doesn’t cooperate. The forecast calls for light to moderate rain on Sunday and Monday.

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11:54 a.m.: Tiger Woods will miss the cut at the British Open after finishing his second round with a three-over 75. Following a lengthy delay because of high winds, Woods bogeyed his first three holes before sinking a birdie on 16.

He finished at seven over for the tournament, tied in 147th place. It’s the first time Woods has missed the cut at the U.S. Open and British Open in the same year.

Woods’ old rival -- 2001 British Open champion David Duval -- made the cut after shooting consecutive even-par rounds of 72.

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10:35 a.m.: After high winds forced play to be suspended for more than 10 hours, the second round of the British Open is back underway at St. Andrews, Scotland.

Still, conditions are far from ideal. Winds are whipping around the course at 20 mph, although they are expected to dissipate as the evening continues. Organizers are hoping to finish the second round Saturday with the third round set for Sunday. The final round has been pushed back to Monday -- the first time since 1988 that the British Open will have a Monday finish.

Dustin Johnson and Danny Willett are tied at the top of the leaderboard at nine under. Willett has completed his second round and Johnson is teeing off on 16.

Tiger Woods stands a six over for the weekend with four more holes to play.

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8:38 a.m.: The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews has delayed the resumption of the second round of the British Open yet again.

High winds have caused play to be suspended for more than 10 hours. Play is now scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. PDT (6 p.m. local time).

Thirty-nine players, including co-leader Dustin Johnson, have yet to complete 36 holes.

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8:11 a.m.: The winds are still battering St. Andrews, forcing R&A officials to push back the scheduled resumption of the second round to 9 a.m. PDT (5 pm local time).

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7:14 a.m.: The established time for wind review was 3 p.m. local time at St. Andrews. When that came, officials said the winds had not declined sufficiently and said they would revisit it at 4, or 8 a.m. Pacific.

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6:13 a.m.: Winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour off the North Sea here forced postponement Saturday of the resumption of Friday’s second round of the British Open.

Officials estimated play to resume at 8 a.m. Pacific time, although that was based on a weather estimate that winds would subside by then.

They also said that, because play had also been delayed Friday for 3 1/2 hours due to a heavy rainfall Thursday night that flooded the course, the third round will be played Sunday and the tournament will play its final 18 holes on Monday.

The day was bright and partly cloudy Saturday, and heavily bundled fans wandered the course, awaiting play to resume.

Players had played about two holes Saturday morning when the winds began to move balls on the putting greens and play was suspended at 7:32 a.m., local time. That prompted officials to call conditions unplayable.

The leaders at the point of postponement were Danny Willett, who had completed his 36 holes and was nine-under par, as well as U.S. player Dustin Johnson, also nine-under, but three holes shy of his 36.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.