Sara Byrne slips to 53rd position at the La Sella Open

After a positive start in the opening half of the La Sella Open, pro debutant Sara Byrne has slipped to 53rd in the standings after carding 77 for the day.

Weather delays wrecked havoc with play, where forecasts for lightning put a pause on proceedings for almost three-hours.

The Cork native was just four shots shy of the lead in 15th position after yesterday's round but finished two over par for the day, with one round to play.

The 13 was unlucky for Byrne, she putted in for a triple bogey, adding to the misfortune of two bogeys in the first nine.

After sneaking into the cut yesterday, Lauren Walsh managed four birdies to finish two under par in equal 26 on the leaderboard along with 11 other players.

Walsh started strongly paring or birdying the first eight, but bogies on 8 and 16 put a stop to a possible three under round. Walsh immediately bounced back with birdies in the final two holes securing a two under start for the final round tomorrow morning.

At the top of the leaderboard, Helen Briem fired a round of 66 (-6) on day three to hold a one-stroke lead at the 54-hole mark in Spain.

The German teenager began the day in a share of fourth place but got off to a good start on her front nine with birdies on holes two and three.

Briem then rolled in three birdies on the trot on holes six, seven and eight before dropping her first shot of the day on 11.

However, the four-time LETAS winner bounced back with back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 before making a bogey on 16, but she finished in style with a birdie at the last to lead on 12-under-par.

"It was pretty solid, especially the front nine," said Briem. "Fairways, greens and then some putts fell but there's still lots of room for improvement but I’m pretty happy with the day.

"I