HOUSTON – For only the third time in championship history (following 1987 and 2011), the U.S. Women’s Open moves into Monday without a playoff. The final round was suspended for the day due to soggy course conditions and more inclement weather rolling in this afternoon.

Houston’s Champions Golf Club has received 0.73 inches of rain in the past 24 hours. Play will resume at 9 a.m. ET on Monday with Golf Channel airing live coverage from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. ET.

“We want to ensure course conditions are worthy of crowning a major champion,” said John Bodenhamer, Senior Managing Director, Championships.

Japan’s Hinako Shibuno leads the field at 4-under 209, one shot clear of American Amy Olson. There are 13 players who are at or within five shots of the lead. No player in championship history has overcome more than a five-shot deficit through 54 holes. Annika Sorenstam was the last do it in 1995.

U.S. Women’s Open: Leaderboard | Photos | TV info

World No. 1 Jin Young Ko and amateur Kaitlyn Papp didn’t make it off the first tee box on Sunday morning before play was suspended due to dangerous weather at 10:10 a.m. ET (9:10 a.m. local time).

Lydia Ko looked up in shock on the range when she heard the blast through her AirPods. A total of six groups (18 players) had yet to tee off before play was halted.

Three and a half hours after the initial suspension, Sunday’s action was called off altogether at 1:40 p.m. ET.

“You saw all the mud we had yesterday,” said Champions member Stacy Lewis. “It just couldn’t take much more water.

“The greens have been great. Even this morning the greens were firm … the surrounds and the fairways were soaked.”

With the wind shifting to the North on Monday, temperatures are expected to drop considerably. Mud balls will once again be in play, but Lewis said it shouldn’t be as bad as Saturday’s round given that the USGA moved the tees up on the majority of holes. Total yardage on Saturday was 6,635 yards. For the final round, it’s 6,399. In keeping with USGA tradition, there will be no lift, clean and place. Scores from Sunday’s play will not be wiped out.

“It’s much more playable from there,” said Lewis. “If you can hit a 6-iron instead of a hybrid, you can control it a little more.”

Cheyenne Knight, who grew up nearby in The Woodlands, said she might go buy some handwarmers for the final round. Temperatures are forecasted to be around 39 degrees at 8 a.m., warming up to only 50 degrees by the afternoon.

Former No. 1 and 2018 U.S. Women’s Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn managed to birdie the first hole to pull to even par, four strokes behind Shibuno. Amateur Linn Grant is 1 under on the day through three holes and in a share of 14th.

Papp said she spent the rain delay with Texas assistant coach, Kate Golden, who is on the bag this week and fellow amateur Gabi Ruffels, who had USC head coach Justin Silverstein on the bag.

Papp said the family was lucky to get back into the hotel they checked out of this morning. An in-room movie seemed the best way to kill time.

Shibuno looks to become only the third player in LPGA history to make her first two wins a major, joining Se Ri Park and In Gee Chun. The 2019 AIG Women’s British Open winner is not yet a member of the LPGA.

Rookie Yealimi Noh, who trails by four, would become the youngest winner in U.S. Women’s Open history at 19 years, 4 months and 17 days old. Inbee Park was 19 years, 11 months and 17 days old when she won the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open.

Cristie Kerr’s bid to become the oldest USWO champion at 43 faded after she bogeyed the only hole she played on Sunday. She now trails by six.

Of the last 30 USWO winners, 24 were at or within two strokes of the lead entering the final round.