CHASKA, MINN. ? A hard overnight rain at Hazeltine National Golf Club had officials scrambling Saturday to clear water off the course in time for the PGA Championship to resume.

Three inches of rain fell in the Twin Cities, pushing the completion of Friday’s suspended second round back another two hours in the morning.

Groundskeepers and local firefighters push standing water from the second fairway at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. An overnight thunderstorm dumped nearly three inches of rain before Saturday's third round of the PGA Championship.

But by the time the third round began at 11:30 a.m., grounds crew workers, other volunteers and Chaska firefighters had pumped about 60,000 gallons of water 2,400 gallons per minute off the course and back to Lake Hazeltine where it belonged.

The lake, which lies along holes 10 and 18, rose during the rainstorm and flooded some of the course’s lower-lying areas most significantly around the front half of the No. 2 fairway and the eighth hole’s water hazard.

Hazeltine superintendent Jim Nicol arrived shortly after 4 a.m., an hour after he woke up.

“My wife told me, ‘I think you have a storm on your hands,”‘ Nicol said.

Some wet spots remained, most noticeably in some of the sand traps, but crews had cleared enough water off the course to satisfy PGA officials with about 45 minutes to spare before the third round started.

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Star power: David Duval, Jose Maria Olazabal and Phil Mickelson barely made the cut, but the large crowd following the threesome Saturday didn’t seem to mind their high scores.

Mickelson, who finished the third round at 10-over par 226, drew the biggest cheers. He just wished he could have played better. He said the crowds were gracious, but it didn’t help.

Eyes reddened, Mickelson searched for an explanation to his recent poor performances. He tied for 66th in the British Open, missed the cut at the Sprint International and was tied for 29th at the Buick Open.

“I’m just not playing well,” Mickelson said. “There’s no one to blame but myself.”

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Close encounter: Hazeltine’s layout puts the ninth and 18th greens almost side-by-side with a bunker between them. From time to time, groups on the 18th find themselves waiting to line up their putts while a player is hitting on No. 9.

During the completion of the second round Saturday morning, Greg Owen, John Rollins and Shingo Katayama and their caddies stopped short of the green on 18 to wait for Brad Faxon’s chip shot on 9.

There’s the potential for distraction at the interchange, but the players didn’t think it was much of a problem.

“It can be, but the players are very respectful about waiting to putt off on the other green,” Justin Rose said.