DUBLIN, Ohio -- Carl Pettersson would have to consider this a good day. He made five birdies in the five hours he spent on the golf course, and had only one milkshake in the six hours he spent inside the locker room during a rainy Friday at the Memorial Tournament.

The best part of all was he finished his round and was atop the leaderboard.

Pettersson made up ground quickly after a six-hour rain delay by playing bogey-free in his round of 5-under 67, making him the leader in the clubhouse by two shots with more than two-thirds of the field unable to finish the second round.

"It's nice to be finished," Pettersson said.

The outcry over the furrowed bunkers was quickly forgotten when a steady rain which began at dawn saturated Muirfield Village Golf Course and led to the long rain delay. Stuck in the clubhouse for half the day, all anyone wanted to do was get back on the course.

"Twelve hours for 18 holes. That must be a world record," Ernie Els said after a 70 brought him back to even par, eight shots out of the lead.

Pettersson returned to the course and struck a 7-iron to 10 feet on the sixth hole for birdie, and continued moving up the leaderboard until he was at 8-under 136.

Sean O'Hair birdied three of his first six holes and also was at 8 under when play was suspended. Steve Flesch (72) and Zach Johnson (68) each dropped a shot over the final two holes to finish at 6-under 138.

It was the 10th round in the last seven years at the Memorial that a round has not been completed because of weather.

The day felt so long that David Howell, who opened with a 69, was walking along a muddy path near the clubhouse just before 8 p.m. ET when someone asked him how he had fared.

"Actually," the Englishman said, "I've yet to play."

Pettersson had a simple explanation for his good play.

"The shots I didn't hit quite well still went straight," he said. "My mis-hits went well. I putted well."

And this isn't a bad week for that to happen. The Official World Golf Ranking that came out Monday had Pettersson at No. 51 by one-hundredth of a point, meaning he will have to qualify for the U.S. Open the day after the Memorial. The top 50 are exempt.

"I wasn't too pleased," he said. "Maybe winning here, that might help."

It would get him to Winged Foot, because the U.S. Open also exempts players who have won twice on the PGA TOUR since the last U.S. Open, and the Swede earned his first TOUR victory late last year in Tampa Bay. But there is plenty of work left, and Pettersson wasn't sure how the leaderboard would shake out by the time the second round would be finished late Saturday morning. The round is set to resume at 8 a.m. ET.

Tim Clark and EDS Byron Nelson Championship winner Brett Wetterich -- good friends with Gary Nicklaus -- stand at 6 under and still on the course.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson made four pars and a bogey during his short time on Muirfield Village Golf Club and was at 2 under for the tournament. Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen was chipping away along the back nine with four birdies in a five-hole stretch, only to see it come undone with a double bogey-bogey finish that put him at 2-over 146.

"We're going home," he said to his caddie as he walked out of the scoring room, and it wasn't clear what he meant. Perhaps he was thrilled to not have to return Saturday morning. Or maybe he figured that with Muirfield expected to be soft and sunny and pristine when the second round resumes, the projected cut will change.

Either way, it was an exhausting day for all.

"That was a long day, a tiring day. I'm just glad we finished," Flesch said. "We've been here since 7 (o'clock) this morning. We played three holes this morning, then sat around all that time. I just felt a little lethargic."

Chris DiMarco, still recovering from a rib injury in March, shot 71 and was at 1-under 143.

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