Westwood leads by three through three in Sweden

• By Associated Press
• Jun 8, 2012 1:03 PM ET

BRO, Sweden – Lee Westwood shot a 4-under 68 and maintained a three-stroke lead after the third round of the Nordea Masters at Bro Hof Slott Club on Friday.

Westwood, at 16 under, will attempt to win the Swedish Masters in Saturday's final round for the third time in his career, having won the title in 1996 and 2000.

Westwood said he missed opportunities to extend the three-shot lead he held after the second round.

Video: Round 3 highlights from the Nordea Masters

"I hit a lot of good shots and I didn't get into too much trouble," he said. "But I did misread a couple of good birdie putts on the front nine, at holes five and eight. But I think I putted well after that and I holed a couple on the back nine."

Another Englishman, Ross Fisher, was in second place at 13 under, and there was still a chance a Swede could win the home title for a third successive year following Alexander Noren in 2011 and Richard Johnson in 2010.

Westwood's 2010 Ryder Cup teammate Peter Hansen shot 69 to lead the Swedish challenge in third place at 12 under, four off the pace.

Fisher moved within one shot of Westwood, but Westwood birdied three successive holes, capped by an 18-foot putt on the 11th green.

Fisher went out in the last group at the Wales Open last weekend but fell back into sixth place after being penalized a shot and fined for slow play as he lined up a putt on the 14th green.

Fisher said he had put that disappointment behind him.

"I have taken the positive from last week. I had a chance of winning," he said. "The rest was just one of those things, I had to deal with it and get on with it and the best way I could do that was to use positives by playing good golf to give myself a chance and I have done that here."

He relished the opportunity to go head to head in the final round with his Ryder Cup colleague Westwood.

"He is a world-class golfer," Fisher said. "And you want to measure your game against the best players in the world and he is one of those."