Tournament officials in the Alfred Dunhill Championship have cut the tournament to 54 holes after heavy rain at the Houghton course.

When Saturday's play was abandoned, only the second round had been completed, although a some players had begun their third.

With no break in the downpour forecast until Sunday afternoon, the organisers have decided simply to try to finish 54 holes Sunday.

Play on Monday is a possibility if the round cannot be completed.

The first event of the European Tour's year will still carry its full prize money.

Namibia's Trevor Dodds leads with a 10-under-par total of 134, registered on Friday.

Englishman Anthony Wall was joined in second place on eight-under 136 by Scotland's Gary Orr who made a five-under 67 on Saturday morning.

Joint tournament directors Miguel Vidaor and Theo Manyama said the persistent rain over the past three days had left some greens waterlogged and unplayable.

Play had to be suspended once on Friday and twice on Saturday, when some greens and low lying areas of fairways had reached saturation point.

Dodds, Wall and Orr went out to start their third rounds on Saturday afternoon, but play was suspended after each had played just one shot.

Leading scores after second round:

Trevor Dodds, Namibia 69-65-134
Gary Orr, Scotland 69-67-136
Anthony Wall, England 69-67-136
Peter Baker, England 68-70-138
Paul Broadhurst, England 68-70-138
Ricardo Gonzalez, Argentina 70-68-138
David Frost, South Africa 71-68-139
Bernard Langer, Germany 70-69-139
Steve Webster, England 70-69-139
Jeev Milkha Singh, India 69-70-139
Nic Henning, South Africa 71-68-139
Paul McGinley, Ireland 73-66-139
Philip Price, Wales 72-67-139
Desmond Terblanche, South Africa 69-70-139
Tjaart van der Walt, South Africa 72-68-140
Tom Gillis, United States 71-69-140
Mathias Gronberg, Sweden 72-69-141
Maarten Lafeber, Holland 71-70-141
Desvonde Botes, South Africa 72-69-141
Retief Goosen, South Africa 72-69-141
Marc Cayeux, Zimbabwe 70-71-141