Rory McIlroy looks on pole to lift a second Players Championship title as the final round was interrupted by bad weather at TPC Sawgrass.

McIlroy began the final round four shots off the lead but a brilliant start helped take the world No.2 to the top of the leaderboard before play was suspended due to the threat of lightning on Sunday.

The 2019 winner followed a birdie on the first with an eagle from 10 feet on the par-five second after a superb long-iron approach from 230 yards.

McIlroy also responded to a bogey on the seventh with a birdie on the eighth and another birdie on the par-five 11th took the Northern Irishman to 12 under par, a shot ahead of American overnight leader JJ Spaun.

Spaun had covered his first eight holes in two over par before getting back on track with a birdie on the ninth.

He missed from six feet for another birdie on the 10th shortly before the players were forced off the course.

Tom Hoge, Akshay Bhatia and Danny Walker were two shots off the lead in a tie for third, with Scotland's Robert MacIntyre part of a five-man group two strokes further back on eight under.

Australian Min Woo Lee, who had been leading at halfway, had slipped right down to joint-29th position at three under with three holes to play when the players came off.

Highlight of the final round had been US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley's second hole-in-one of the season when he aced the par-three 13th.

Amid a smattering of rain, Bradley used a seven-iron to launch his tee shot onto the green. His ball bounced a couple of times to the left before dropping into the cup from 153 yards for his fourth career hole-in-one on the PGA Tour.

It came exactly one month after his ace on the par-three third at Torrey Pines South during the final round of the Genesis Invitational.

With agencies