Lauren Walsh races into contention in Morocco

Lauren Walsh has catapulted herself into contention at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco as she produced an excellent round of 68.

That leaves Walsh on seven-under par, just two shots off England's Cara Gainer and India’s Diksha Dagar who sit atop the leaderboard.

Midway leader Shannon Tan of Singapore is eight-under par - one off the lead - after a third-round 72.

Walsh had opened with a 75 to leave her seemingly in a fight to make the cut – but rounds of 69 and 68 shot the Kildare native up the leaderboard.

Saturday’s scorecard was mostly clean with her sole dropped shot coming at the par-five fifth, but six birdies ensured that she can still dream of a first professional title.

Sara Byrne had started Round 3 just a shot behind Tan but she lost all momentum with a 77 pushing her to two-under par and outside the top 20.

Byrne had failed to get anything going on Saturday, and five dropped shots over her final five holes – including a closing double bogey – saw her all but fall out of contention.

FULL LEADERBOARD

Armagh’s Annabel Wilson will have her eyes on a top-20 finish as a steady 70 saw her move to level-par for the tournament.

It was a fine showing on a day with little low scoring across the field with birdies at the fifth, seventh, 11th and 12th improving her position with her only dropped shot coming at 17.

Anna Foster sits on two-over par after a level-par round of 73.

Like most the Irish quintet, she struggled on the back nine with bogeys at the 10th, 16th and 17th preventing her from an even better day.

Olivia Mehaffey is back on six-over par after a third-round 77, a triple bogey on the second proving particularly hurtful.

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