Rose, a shot behind halfway leader JB Holmes, had been one of the leading six players unable to start their third rounds as scheduled yesterday as thunderstorms in Detroit brought play to a halt.

Facing 36 holes of golf today, Rose teed off early with Ben Curtis in the penultimate pairing behind Holmes, at one under, and Charlie Wi, on level par.

Playing behind Curtis and Rose were Stenson and David Toms, a shot further back at one over and starting their third rounds on a par-70 course which was playing softer and longer than yesterday.

Curtis, the 2003 Open champion, will go into the final round with a one-shot lead after shooting 68, with Holmes at one under following a level-par 70 after bogeying the last.

Sweden’s Stenson will start at one under after a 68, with Spain’s Garcia and Harrington of Ireland at one over alongside Korean-born Wi.

Rose, though, carded a four-over 74 that sent him back to four over for the tournament, his round buckling at the par-four 11th with a triple-bogey seven and then a double-bogey six at the 16th.

Harrington bounced back into contention after a third-round 66.

The Open champion was one of 48 golfers unable to complete their rounds on Saturday when thunderstorms intervened as he had just putted for a birdie at the ninth.

The Irishman had declared his championship bid finished at five over par after two rounds, citing mental fatigue following the exertions of his Royal Birkdale victory last month.

Having risen at 4:30am local time, he showed no ill effects from the early start, sinking four birdies in a row from the 13th to the 16th for a four-under-par 66 which would have been better but for a bogey at the last.

“Right at this moment, disappointing,” was how Harrington described his round.

“Bogeyed the last. Good tee shot and good second shot which I thought was going to give me a good birdie chance and I messed up the bunker shot. Little disappointed as I had a good birdie chance on the 17th and chances on 10, 11 and 12.

“It was a slow start to the second part of my round but the four birdies in the middle got it going and I holed some putts in that run which was nice to see happening and get some feeling on the greens.

“I am four behind at the moment and I would take that as long as there are not 20 guys between me and three under. You don’t know what is going to happen in the afternoon.

“I caught six up in the Open in 2007 and as long as there are not too many bodies ahead of you, you can make up quite a big amount in the last round of a major.”

The final round was to be played in groups of three from both the first and the 10th tees, official announced on Saturday night, with start times beginning at 5.20 pm Irish Time and the lead group going off at 7.20pm Irish Time.

Yet weather forecasters were predicting a 40% chance of scattered rain showers and possibly an isolated thunderstorm for the afternoon’s play.

Argentina’s Andres Romero rattled in seven birdies and just two bogeys on his way to a five-under-par, course-record equalling 65 to move to two over for the tournament, while Camilo Villegas of Colombia fired a 67, three over for the week.

Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell shot a 68 that included an eagle three at the 12th and was due to start his final round at four over.

Paul Casey of England struggled to a 72, while Ian Poulter opened with a double-bogey six at the first on the way to a 73, leaving the English duo to head into the final round at eight over.