Graeme McDowell shot a third round 69 at the U.S. Open on Sunday afternoon, and is currently in a tie for twelfth place, eight shots adrift of leader Ricky Barnes.

He was one over par after completing six holes of his third round on Saturday evening before inclement weather and darkness forced organizers to suspend play for the day at 7.09 p.m. local time.

McDowell, who began his third round on the back nine playing with Jim Furyk, started to make a move in the early holes with birdies on 12 and 14, but a costly double bogey on 15 undid all this good work and will have put the Portrush man in a foul mood as play was suspended shortly after he finished the hole.

When McDowell got back out on the course this morning, he picked up play by going par/par/birdie on the 16th 17th and 18th to cover the back nine holes in 34 strokes.

Pars on one and two were followed by a bogey on the 205-yard par three to take McDowell to one over for the tournament.

McDowell got the shot back on the 6th when he birdied to go to even par for the tournament. Three pars later and he was done for the round, one under for the day and level par for the tournament.

“If the lead comes back to five or six (under par) then I certainly have a chance," said McDowell afterwards.

"I am in a great position to play aggressive golf in the final round," continued the Portrush man, who added that he was driving better as the week went on, and that he was looking forward to going out and shooting a low number in the last round.

McDowell paid tribute to the grounds men and the crowds at the Open, but admitted that the stop/start nature of play was taking a bit of a toll.

“It’s one of the toughest weeks I’ve ever played,” he said. “Sometimes you lose track of what's going on.”

McDowell, who stated that one of his goals this year was to be in contention on a Sunday afternoon, now finds himself eight shots behind leader Ricky Barnes, who carded a level par 70 for his third round.

Barnes leads Lucas Glover by one shot, and David Duval and Ross Fisher are tied for third place at five under par.