Lightning has halted Cameron Smith's run home as the world No.3 eyes a third Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane.
The Open Championship winner started three shots clear but was in a battle at the turn, 12 under and only one ahead of Jason Scrivener.
With storms brewing, Smith was on the 10th hole when the siren sounded to stop play due to lightning in the area.
Ryo Hisatsune was a shot further behind on 10 under while Min Woo Lee and Yan Wei Liu were a stroke further back and Jake McLeod and Masahiro Kawaruma were eight under through nine holes.
But their charge to the 18th green was stalled by a storm that brewing west of the city and set to hit Royal Queensland.
Smith threatened to break the tournament open early on Saturday but battled afternoon wind gusts and didn't get into top gear on Sunday.
A birdie on the second was promising but he missed his mark on the par-three fourth hole and was again off target approaching the par-five seventh hole.
Hisatsune, meanwhile, birdied the first and eagled the second hole to shoot into the reckoning.
Scrivener had birdies on the first, third, sixth, seventh and ninth to go with a bogey on the fourth in a frantic front nine.
He bogeyed the 10th but birdied the 11th to get within a shot
Lee, aiming for a rankings boost to enter the world top-50 and book a 2023 US Masters berth, was bogey-free through nine holes and also applying the pressure.
Earlier, veterans Geoff Ogilvy and Greg Chalmers also found their Sunday best, carding rounds of 65 and 66 to finish five and seven under respectively.
And Marc Leishman found form ahead of a return to Victoria's sandbelt for the Australian Open from Thursday, carding a four-under 67 to sign off at six under for the tournament.
