Strudwick hit a course record round of 64

Strudwick, making the most of an early start before the weather deteriorated, produced the performance of the day with nine birdies in a new course record eight-under-par 64 on Saturday.

Davies staged a fighting comeback for a 73 in the windy conditions.

The pair established a four-shot lead on the rest of the field.

THIRD ROUND LEADERBOARD -10 L Davies (GB), S Strudwick (GB) -6 B Morgan (GB), J Gallagher-Smith (US), R Teske (Aus), J Morley (GB), M McKay (GB), K Webb (Aus) -5 L Kreutz (Fra), K Icher (Fra), L Ochoa (Mex), B Bauer (US), R Coakley (Aus) Collated scores

Six players are tied for third place, including the British trio of Joanne Morley, Becky Morgan and Mhairi McKay.

Defending champion, Karrie Webb is also in the chasing pack after a round of 74.

Strudwick, who has seen her last two seasons ruined by a neck injury, was delighted with her performance but stressed there was still a lot of work to do.

"I've been in this position before but not for a while," she said.

"I'll be going out to win, but I know that I've got to shoot under par to have a chance."

Davies, chasing a second straight win after last week's success at the ANZ Ladies' Masters, suffered with two shots into water and three bogeys during the front nine.

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But she responded with four birdies in six holes from the 12th before dropping a shot at the 18th to allow Strudwick to draw level.

"It was really tricky out there and the wind really magnified the bad shots," said Davies.

"But Suzanne's round was absolutely fantastic and I know she'll be a big threat tomorrow.

"After my bad run around the turn, my caddy told me that we had to make some birdies. But I didn't really expect to make four."