Madeira Islands Open 2015: Leaderboard Scores and Highlights from Saturday

Pontus Widegren rolled in a birdie on the 18th hole Saturday to claim a solo lead at 16 under after the third round of the 2015 Madeira Islands Open. Roope Kakko and Scott Henry will enter the final day one stroke back.

The scoring conditions are leaving players with no choice but to go low if they want to remain in contention. The players inside the top 10 were a cumulative 40 under in Round 3 and will likely need to maintain that pace for a chance to raise the trophy on Sunday.

Let's check out how the top of the leaderboard shapes up heading into Sunday's final round. A complete list of scores is available on the European Tour's official site.

Rank	Golfer	Round 3	Overall Score
1	Pontus Widegren	-5	-16
T-2	Roope Kakko	-8	-15
T-2	Scott Henry	-7	-15
4	Brandon Stone	-6	-14
5	Bjorn Akesson	-4	-12
6	Rhys Davies	-5	-11
T-7	Tom Murray	-4	-10
T-7	Pierre Relecom	-2	-10
T-7	Antonio Hortal	Par	-10
T-7	Sam Walker	+1	-10

Favorable weather at Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra once again left the door open for players to post low scores on Saturday. Tiago Cruz (-9) led the charge during the early wave with a seven-under 65 to vault himself just outside the top 10 on moving day.

Widegren came into the day tied for the lead with Sam Walker, who couldn't keep pace in the third round. The Swede, on the other hand, continued to strike the ball extremely well, leading to a pair of eagles on the front-nine par fives.

Coming into the round, he talked about getting back on track after some less stressful rounds with friends helped get his season going again, as noted by the European Tour.

"It's been a very frustrating year, but I had a week at home two weeks ago, played a lot of golf at my home course, which I live very close to," Widegren said. "I was playing with my friends and with my brother in foursomes, best ball, and things like that.

"It changed my mode with the golf for a little bit and I had a couple of days where I got some good practice in too, got grounded on what I'm trying to do and it really worked out."

Whatever he changed about his approach is working, because he'll head into the final round with a golden opportunity to win for the second straight event. He finished in a tie for fifth at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge last week.

Kakko (-15) fired the best round of the afternoon, an eight-under 64, to join the lead pack. He finished on a high note, carding birdies on each of the final three holes, which should send him into the last round with some positive vibes.

Henry (-15) is also just one stroke off the pace. He pieced together a bogey-free 65, including four birdies over his first five holes. Another one of the Scot's seven dropped strokes came at the picturesque 16th, as highlighted by the Challenge Tour:

In all, there are 18 players within seven shots of the lead.

Sunday should be a wild day on the Madeira Islands. When you combine the number of players still in contention with a course that's giving up plenty of low scores, it's a formula for some entertaining drama during the final round.

Widegren has performed at the most consistent level so far, posting three scores of 67 or better. Playing in the final group will help him understand how aggressive he needs to play down the stretch. That said, the title is very much up for grabs with 18 holes to go.