South Africa's Thriston Lawrence has produced a front-nine birdie blitz to lead by two shots at the weather-affected European Masters in Switzerland.

With the tournament still playing catch-up following Thursday's lengthy fog delays at Crans-sur-Sierre GC, the third round did not begin until 3pm local time on Saturday and Lawrence only managed to complete 12 holes before play was suspended due to darkness at 8.15pm local time. 

The 2022 champion began round three with a stunning long-range birdie at the first before recovering from a bogey on the second with five successive birdies from the fifth to hit the front. 

Another birdie on the 12th took him to 17 under par and he will have a three-foot par putt awaiting him on the 13th green when play resumes early on Sunday morning. 

Matt Fitzpatrick, who will be hoping to receive a Ryder Cup pick from European captain Luke Donald on Monday, shares second place with Finn Sami Valimaki on 15 under after the Englishman made two eagles and three birdies in his first 14 holes. 

Defending champion Matt Wallace was one shot further back with five holes to complete, alongside Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen who has just one hole left. 

Lawrence said: "I'm very, very happy. I started with a nice long putt for birdie, which settled the nerves and got me going. 

"Unfortunate bogey on the next but five birdies in a row after that - I'm really happy with the way I'm putting, hitting it fairly good. 

"There's still a lot of golf left and I've just got to try and do the same."