Dredge wins Madeira Island Open

Wales’ Bradley Dredge cruised to a commanding victory in the Madeira Island Open to claim his first European Tour title.

Dredge carded a final-round 71 for a 16-under total of 272 and eight-shot win over Swede Fredrik Andersson, English duo Brian Davis and Andrew Marshall, to take the top prize at Santo da Serra.

The foundations for Dredge’s overdue maiden win were firmly laid by his brilliant third-round 60, when he came within inches of recording the first ever 59 on the European Tour.

He started the final day with an eight-shot lead and although he bogeyed the first, a birdie at the third settled any nerves and victory was never in doubt.

Dredge, 72nd in the world rankings, was the only member of the top 100 competing in Madeira and found himself in the unusual position of outright favourite at the start of the week.

The 29-year-old has twice finished runner-up on the European Tour and also recorded nine other top-10 places last season as he finished 18th on the Order of Merit.

But the former Walker Cup player was desperate to end his search for a first tour victory after coming close to claiming the prestigious Volvo Masters title - eventually shared by Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer – at the end of last year.

“It feels wonderful,” said Dredge, who could comfortably afford the luxury of a bogey on the last. “I’ve waited a long time for this, so I’m going to savour it for a few weeks at home.

“It was frustrating because I really wanted to win last year and I had a few chances, but I tried not to put too much pressure on myself.

“I never imagined I would have such a short putt to win a tournament, or that I would have about eight putts for it from four inches.