Stephanie Meadow is in pole position to secure an emotional victory on home soil as she takes a four-stroke lead into the final day of the ISPS Handa World Invitational.

The Northern Irish star posted a sublime six under par round of 67 to reach a total of ten under par in Ballymena, as torrential rain caused an hour-and-a-half delay and therefore caused Meadow’s tee time – the final group of the day – to be pushed back to 3.40pm local time.

In the men’s tournament, second round leader Todd Clements and France’s Damien Perrier share a one-shot lead on nine under par ahead of Italy’s Francesco Laporta and England’s Jack Senior.

Perrier recorded a four under par round of 66, which included a bogey-free three under par back nine, to set the target at nine under par, before Clements finished with back-to-back gains to join the 2016 D+D REAL Czech Challenge Champion at the top of the leaderboard.

After a two-and-a-half hour delay hampered the start of the second round, day three began as planned but a heavy 20-minute downpour just before 1pm caused a delay and the afternoon groups were forced to deal with extremely wet fairways and greens, which the tournament administration team and greenkeeping staff did well to get in a playable condition.

First round leader Ellie Givens is the woman best-placed to catch Meadow after a round of 70, three under par, on day three saw her reach six under par overall, one shot ahead of Charley Hull, Olivia Cowan, Leona Maguire and Laura Fuenfstueck.

History will be made in Ballymena tomorrow as a man and a woman will be crowned Champions of the inaugural ISPS Handa World Invitational.

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