Terrible weather causes third-round cancellation at Alfred Dunhill Links

The third round will now take place on Sunday after high winds battered the area

(Jane Barlow/PA Wire)

Play was cancelled on Saturday at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and the third round will now take place on Sunday as high winds battered the area.

After Friday’s brutal weather conditions in Scotland led to a suspension of the second round in the late afternoon, those with holes still to finish returned to the week’s three host courses – the Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns – on Saturday morning.

Those holes managed to be played and round three got underway in the early afternoon but no one managed to complete more than two holes before play was suspended.

Tournament organisers later announced that no further play would be possible on Saturday and that the third-round action that had been squeezed in would be wiped from the record.

The third round is now set to commence on Sunday morning as a two-tee start at all three venues.

A statement from the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship organisers read: “All golf played over the three courses on Saturday 4 October has been cancelled. The third round will be played on Sunday 5 October as a two-tee start over all three courses between 09:00-11:23.”

High winds blew fences down on the Old Course at St Andrews (Jane Barlow/PA Wire)

Robert MacIntyre leads the event but wasn’t enjoying the conditions on Saturday (Jane Barlow/PA Wire)

Despite the ambiguous wording of the message, the conclusion of round two that was completed on Saturday morning appears to still count and it is just the couple of holes of round three action that have been voided.

It is still unclear whether the scheduled fourth round will be played on Monday or if the tournament will be reduced to 54 holes.

Home favourite Robert MacIntyre and South Africa's Richard Sterne remain the men to catch at the top of the leaderboard on 12 under par.