LOS ANGELES (AFP) - US Open runner-up Scott Piercy completed a five-under par 67 second round on Saturday (Oct 15) to secure a three-stroke lead after 36 holes of the storm-struck US PGA season-opening Safeway Open.

Piercy, four-under after 10 holes in his second round when darkness Friday halted the storm-interrupted round, put his approach inches from the cup at the par-4 17th for a tap-in birdie to go with seven pars in his Saturday morning resumption.

That left the 37-year-old American on 15-under 129 entering the third round at Silverado in Napa, California, north of San Francisco.

Piercy seeks his fourth PGA title, his first since the Barbasol Championship played opposite last year's British Open.

England's 12th-ranked Paul Casey, seeking his first US PGA title since 2009, 11-under after 12 holes when play was halted Friday, added a four-foot birdie putt at the par-5 16th on the way to a second-round 68.

Casey shared second with American Johnson Wagner on 132 with American Troy Merritt another stroke adrift.

The Englishman finished the 2015-16 season with back-to-back runner-up finishes and a fourth-place effort at the US PGA Tour Championship.

Scotland's Martin Laird and American Patton Kizzire shared fifth on 135 at the 2016-17 US tour season opener.

The tournament lost some of its luster when 14-time major champion Tiger Woods pulled out Monday, having earlier targeted the tournament as his return from a back injury that has sidelined him for more than a year.