Sweden’s Camilla Lennarth fired a 3-under-par 69 in gusty and changeable conditions to join overnight leader Sally Watson in a share of the lead after the third round of the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open.

Sweden’s Camilla Lennarth fired a three-under-par 69 in gusty and changeable conditions to join overnight leader Sally Watson (pictured) in a share of the lead after the third round of the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open presented by Respect at Golf Resort Tále near Brezno.

Watson held a three stroke lead going into the third round and extended her advantage to five strokes after a birdie on the fourth hole, but her lead began to diminish after she dropped a stroke at the sixth.

After missing the green and taking a double on the par 3 10th, she recovered with a birdie on the next hole but dropped two more strokes on 14 and 15 to sign for a three-over 75. She was eventually caught by Lennarth after the Swede birdied the 17th hole. Lennarth had an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys on her card.

Both players are contending for their first win on the Ladies European Tour and Watson, 23, from Elie, said:

“I’m really excited for tomorrow. This is my first year on tour and it’s only my fifth LET event. To already have a chance to win is fantastic. I hope I can go out and play my best.

“It’s definitely not a position I’m used to so far in professional golf but hopefully it will be one that I become comfortable with in the coming months. It will be nice to play tomorrow with this round out of the way. I learned a lot.

“Overall it was pretty solid. I had a few loose shots which cost me but it was windier today and I didn’t hit it quite as well so I made life more difficult for myself but I’m still in a good position going into tomorrow so that’s the main thing.”

Klara Spilkova of the Czech Republic is two strokes back in third position and also looking for her first career win on the LET. The 19-year-old from Prague recovered from a double bogey on the second and a triple on the 12th by closing with three birdies in her last five holes.

A stroke further back on two-under-par are English duo Melissa Reid and Liz Young, Italian Sophie Sandolo and Germany’s Ann-Kathrin Lindner.

With a third round 78, the recent Turkish Airlines Ladies Open champion Valentine Derrey slipped down from a share of second into a tie for ninth position, while first-round leader Kylie Walker and Charley Hull are in a group sharing 16th position on three-over-par.

The final round will start from two tees on Sunday morning with the leaders teeing off at 9.40am local time.

Collated scores at the end of round 3:
211 - Camilla Lennarth (SWE)  70 72 69, Sally Watson (SCO)  69 67 75
213 - Klara Spilkova (CZE)  71 68 74
214 - Liz Young (ENG)  71 71 72, Sophie Sandolo (ITA)  73 70 71, Melissa Reid (ENG)  75 68 71, Ann-Kathrin Lindner (GER)  72 74 68
216 - Sophie Walker (ENG)  72 74 70
217 - Beth Allen (USA)  70 74 73, Hannah Ralph (ENG)  72 72 73, Lauren Taylor (ENG)  70 74 73, Valentine Derrey (FRA)  69 70 78
218 - Sophie Giquel-Bettan (FRA)  75 77 66, Eleanor Givens (ENG)  75 67 76, Stefania Croce (ITA)  73 73 72
219 - Maria Balikoeva (RUS)  72 69 78, Kylie Walker (SCO)  68 78 73, Charley Hull (ENG)  74 73 72, Pamela Pretswell (SCO)  71 81 67, Patricia Sanz Barrio (ESP)  69 78 72
220 - Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA)  72 75 73, Maria Beautell (ESP)  74 74 72, Carmen Alonso (ESP)  78 73 69, Connie Chen (RSA)  74 76 70, Titiya Plucksataporn (THA)  79 71 70, Jade Schaeffer (FRA)  75 71 74, Malene Jorgensen (DEN)  70 71 79, Trish Johnson (ENG)  74 76 70, Christine Wolf (AUT)  74 75 71, Nicole Broch Larsen (DEN)  77 73 70
221 - Tania Elosegui (ESP)  72 80 69, Louise Larsson (SWE)  74 75 72, Celine Herbin (FRA)  71 78 72
222 - Julie Greciet (FRA)  74 74 74
223 - Florentyna Parker (ENG)  73 76 74, Cassandra Kirkland (FRA)  74 74 75, Viva Schlasberg (SWE)  72 77 74
224 - Carly Booth (SCO)  75 74 75, Hannah Burke (ENG)  70 79 75, Mireia Prat (ESP)  76 75 73, Michele Thomson (SCO)  78 74 72, Marianne Skarpnord (NOR)  75 74 75
225 - Kiran Matharu (ENG)  72 75 78, Noora Tamminen (FIN)  72 73 80
226 - Lydia Hall (WAL)  74 75 77, Charlotte Ellis (ENG)  77 73 76, Johanka Steindlerova (CZE)  73 75 78, Krista Bakker (FIN)  73 78 75
227 - Fabienne In-albon (SUI)  73 77 77, Sophie Gustafson (SWE)  71 79 77, Caroline Afonso (FRA)  74 78 75, Fiona Puyo (FRA)  78 71 78, Steffi Kirchmayr (GER)  70 81 76, Nikki Garrett (AUS)  77 75 75
228 - Vikki Laing (SCO)  77 71 80
229 - Lucie Andre (FRA)  76 76 77, Anna Scott (ENG)  73 77 79, Linda Henriksson (FIN)  77 75 77, Rebecca Sorensen (SWE)  74 75 80, Karolina Kohoutova CZE)  71 80 78, Minea Blomqvist (FIN)  77 74 78, Gemma Webster (SCO)  77 75 77
231 - Bree Arthur (AUS)  73 78 80, Cathryn Bristow (NZL)  77 75 79
RTD - Ursula Wikstrom (FIN)

Image: Tristan Jones