Asia's top player K.J Choi joined the Australian in failing to make the grade as South Africa's Ernie Els and England's Simon Dyson retained their joint lead at the five-million-dollar tournament.

Just over half the field were unable to finish their second rounds on Friday after lightning and rain lashed Singapore.

Els and Dyson were the clubhouse leaders on six-under-par 136 and no one was able to catch them Saturday morning.

Little-known Singaporean Lam Chih Bing, the first round leader, kept his run going to be four-under-par alongside Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Thailand's Chapchai Nirat.

A group of five players are a shot further back, including Denmark's Thomas Bjorn and Thai veteran Thaworn Wiratchant.

World number three Phil Mickelson finally found some form to inch up the leaderboard but his round was spoiled by a bogey at the last. The American sits at one-under-par, with Padraig Harrington a shot further back.

But the biggest surprise was Scott's failure to make the cut.

The Australian won the tournament in 2005 and 2006, the only time he has ever successfully defended a title, and finished third last year behind winner Angel Cabrera and Vijay Singh.

He needed birdies on the last three holes to stay in the mix but could only manage pars for a 73, missing the cut by three strokes.

Torrential rain and lightning sent spectators scurrying for cover on Friday and forced organisers to suspend the second round for three hours with more than half the field still to complete 36 holes.

Organisers have been forced to come up with contingency plans for weather delays and representatives from the tournament, sponsors Barclays and the Asian Tour have met to discuss the possibility of a potential spillover into next week.

Should third-round play go ahead on Saturday, the tournament will definitely run for 72 holes, 'even if that means a Monday finish,' they said in a statement.

Singapore's own Lam, who also finished his second round early on Saturday, said he was pleased to be in contention going into the weekend but would not allow himself to look too far ahead.

'I'm not thinking about winning. I'm taking it one shot at a time, one day at a time,' he added. 'It's not easy but that's the game plan.' -- AFP, REUTERS