Bad weather halts 3rd round of Memorial with J.T. Poston and Ryan Gerard still in front

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — J.T. Poston and Ryan Gerard were tied for the lead Saturday at the Memorial when a second round of bad weather arrived and wiped out the rest of the third round before it had time to take shape.

It might have come at a good time for Scottie Scheffler, who was making quite a charge until two bogeys in three holes, the last one from an iron off the tee into a creek.

And it probably won't help the players like Poston who face a long Sunday to make up for the lost time and then have 36 holes of U.S. Open qualifying Monday.

Poston and Gerard were tied at 9-under par through five holes, one shot ahead of Sam Burns, who was through six holes.

Even with four hours of daylight available, the PGA Tour felt there was enough thunderstorm activity on the way to call it a day. The third round was to resume at 7 a.m., followed by a final round off both tees in threesomes for the first time all week.

Only 21 players finished the round, with Harris English (69) posting the best score at 3-under 213.

Scheffler, trying to join Tiger Woods as the only players to win three in a row at the Memorial, started 10 shots behind and bogeyed the first hole. And then in a matter of minutes, or so it seems with Scheffler, he was in fourth place after a birdie-birdie-eagle stretch approaching the turn, and then an 8-foot birdie to start the back nine.

But then he had a three-putt par from some 65 feet, back to front, on the par-5 11th. He found a back bunker on the par-3 12th, a spot where it's nigh impossible to keep it on the green (he didn't) leading to another bogey.

And then on the 14th, his iron drifted left and led to a splash and a penalty stroke, adding to a bogey that dropped the world's No. 1 player to 2 under for the round, still eight shots behind.

Rory McIlroy also was eight behind through 16 holes.

And this was no longer the same Muirfield Village, fast and firm and frightening all week, suddenly softened by bursts of rain and even some hail.

No one felt it quite like Justin Thomas, who made a superb par save from behind the 18th green on Friday to make the cut on the number. That got him to the weekend, and he played as a single. Thomas figured that would at least give him the best weather, the best conditions to put up a good number and salvage the week.

But he only played 12 holes in dry conditions before the first delay of 1 hour, 40 minutes. Enough rain fell to make the course a touch easier. And now 32 players still on the course return to a course much softer and easier.

Thomas could only chuckle at his bad luck after his round of 72.

“That’s kind of the joy of being first off because you normally get no wind and an easier course,” he said. “But I missed the window. You know, you've got to play better.”

Poston, meanwhile, can take a little stress off with one more long day of good play. A victory or even a runner-up finish would be worth enough world ranking points to move him high enough in the world ranking to be safe for the top 60 next week and get into the U.S. Open.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Sam Burns gestures after his first putt on the fifth green during the third round of the Memorial golf tournament, in Dublin, Ohio, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Scottie Scheffler gestures after missing his first putt on the second green in the third round of the Memorial golf tournament, Dublin, Ohio, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Fans exit Muirfield Village Golf Club as severe weather moves in during the third round of the Memorial golf tournament, Dublin, Ohio, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Ryan Gerard watches his chip shot onto the fifth green during the third round of the Memorial golf tournament, in Dublin, Ohio, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

J.T. Poston reacts to his chip shot onto the sixth green during the third round of the Memorial golf tournament, in Dublin, Ohio, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called a U.S. push for the denuclearization of North Korea an “anachronistic dream,” saying Sunday the North will steadily expand its nuclear arsenal in the face of U.S.-led threats.

The statement came a day before Chinese President Xi Jinping visits North Korea for talks with Kim Jong Un, in his first visit to the country in seven years.

“The U.S. assertion to backbite the status of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state has no legally binding force and no one will be bound by the U.S. unilateral rhetoric,” said Kim's sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, using the abbreviation for North Korea’s official name.

She dismissed as “false information” a U.S. announcement that President Donald Trump and Xi confirmed their shared goal to denuclearize North Korea in their summit in Beijing last month.

“Some officials in the United States have failed to wake from their escapist and anachronistic dream,” Kim Yo Jong said.

North Korea has been focusing on enlarging its nuclear arsenal since Kim Jong Un's high-stakes diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019. Experts say the North Korean leader wants an international recognition as a nuclear state so that he could demand lifting of international economic sanctions on North Korea.

During a visit to a new nuclear materials production plant last week, Kim Jong Un said North Korea would bolster the country’s nuclear forces “at an exponential rate.” On Sunday, North Korea's state media reported Kim Jong Un visited a weapons factory the previous day and called for increasing the country's missile production capacity 2.5 times under a five-year plan period.

In her statement, Kim Yo Jong accused the U.S. and South Korea of pushing for “ceaseless arms build-ups," saying her brother's push for “steadily beefing up the nuclear war deterrent for self-defense” is “an irreversible final conclusion to be carried out unconditionally.”

Analysts say Xi's visit to North Korea is largely meant to reassert China's influence over North Korea, whose foreign policy priority has shifted to Russia in recent years. They say Xi will likely refrain from directly raising the denuclearization issue and offer economic assistance programs during his meeting with Kim Jong Un.

North Korea has sent troops and conventional weapons to Russia to back its war efforts against Ukraine. South Korean and U.S. officials say North Korea has received economic and other assistance from Russia in return.

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, front right, visits a new facility to produce nuclear bomb fuels at an undisclosed place in North Korea Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

FILE - Kim Yo Jong, a sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 2, 2019. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP, File)