Madeira Islands Open 2015: Leaderboard Scores and Highlights from Friday

Sam Walker and Pontus Widegren climbed the standings as they hit six-under 66s to race to the top of the leaderboard in the 2015 Madeira Islands Open on Friday.

The pair head into Saturday sharing the lead one shot ahead of Thursday's leader Antonio Hortal, who only managed a one-under 71 and sits on 10-under overall.

Bjorn Akesson was the biggest climber of the day though, rising 71 places thanks to his seven-under 65.

Here is the top of the leaderboard after Round 2. The full standings can be found at the European Tour's official website.

Position	Golfer	To Par	Round 2
1	Sam Walker	-11	66
T1	Pontus Widegren	-11	66
3	Antonio Hortal	-10	71
T4	Bjorn Akesson	-8	65
T4	Pierre Relecom	-8	68
T4	Scott Henry	-8	70
T4	Brandon Stone	-8	68

Walker began the day with a much more steady start than on Thursday.

Whereas in Round 1 he hit birdies and a bogey in the first five holes, the Englishman carded five successive pars in difficult conditions.

As the Challenge Tour's official Twitter feed illustrates, the players had to deal with not only wind but dense fog:

The 37-year-old handled the weather magnificently, though, and hit one of the shots of the round at the sixth when he carded an eagle.

Walker picked up another shot on the seventh, before capping a strong round with three birdies in the first four holes of the back nine.

The Englishman admitted the conditions were tricky, but he explained how his ability to adapt to the weather helped him record his solid score. Per the European Tour website, he said: 

"

It was tough out there. But if you played with the wind a little bit you’d create some chances and that’s what I did. I played with the wind a little bit at the tenth and 11th and got two birdies there.

I play with a fade so I can use the wind to my advantage a little more than other people. It was really steady.

"

Widegren enjoyed a similar round, hitting an eagle of his own at the seventh, as well as five birdies.

That would have seen the Swede sitting on 12-under, but an errant bogey on the 11th meant that he also carded a score of six-under for the round.

Widegren took to Twitter after the day's play. The 24-year-old was clearly pleased with his round but was hopeful the weather would improve for Saturday:

Hortal failed to hit the spectacular heights he enjoyed in Round 1, hitting just three birdies and two bogeys in the windy conditions.

The Spaniard may be just one shot behind the joint leaders, but he will need to improve dramatically if he is to challenge them over the weekend.

There will be plenty of competition for Walker and Widegren though, as four players sit on eight-under just three shots behind them.

Of those, Akesson's seven-under for the day gives him the most momentum heading into the weekend, so expect him to lead the charge for top spot on Saturday.