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Shane Lowry will play in the final two rounds of the Masters, but Graeme McDowell missed the cut with a shot.
The Open champion resumed his second round at the 11th hole, right at the par cut-off mark. He fired a shot at 12 but birdied at 13 and 14 to finish with a 69 that put him one under.
Lowry will begin his third round in an hour as tournament officials in Augusta struggle to make up for Thursday’s weather delays that have disrupted the schedule.
Former US Open champion McDowell resumed his career with a bogey at 9 and looked doomed when he went to +2 at 16, but a birdie at 17 gave him a chance to escape on 18.
However, a second shot to the back of the green left him with an uphill putt a foot away.
The three best players in the world are part of a five-way tie for the lead.
Spaniard Jon Rahm completed a second round of 66 on Saturday to join world number one Dustin Johnson and number three Justin Thomas at nine under par, with Australia’s Cameron Smith and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer also scoring the same.
Rory McIlroy is the best of the Irish at -3, putting him in the top 30. Fan James Sugrue (+4) will miss the final two rounds.
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“I’ve known guys for a while who have been nine under par,” Rahm said. “It’s going to be a good weekend.
“I feel like if you’re a golf fan, you have some of the best players in the world there and many others playing great golf, so this weekend with good weather and faster greens should be fun to watch.”
Rahm immediately took some of the lead when play in the delayed second round resumed on Saturday morning, the world number two hitting from close range for a birdie on the 13th.
A good chance to take the lead at 14 was begging and Rahm looked ready to bogey par five at 15 after opting out of the green in two.
The 26-year-old fired his third shot onto the green and dropped his shot near the surface of the putt, only to quickly contribute to an unlikely pair.
Playing alongside Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau had failed his eagle attempt on the 13th when play resumed, but the resulting birdie was the second in a row and was followed by more gains on the 14th and 16th.
However, the US Open champion then bogeyed the final two holes to return to level par and faced an anxious wait before stepping inside the cutoff mark, where former champions Jordan Spieth and Charl Schwartzel were joined.
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