Dredge and Webster tied for lead

Welshman Bradley Dredge and England’s Steve Webster were tied for the lead after the opening four holes of the Telecom Italian Open final round in Milan today.

Both birdied the par five first, but while Webster, one ahead overnight, three-putted the third Dredge, lucky to avoid the water on the second, picked up another stroke at the 425-yard fourth.

The pair were 14 under, two ahead of Ireland’s Gary Murphy, who had eagled the first, and Englishmen Simon Khan and Richard Finch.

Webster is trying for his first European tour victory, having finished second five times, while Dredge is looking to add to his 2003 Madeira Island Open win.

Dredge's bogey on the short fifth gave Webster the edge again, but he duffed a chip at the 224-yard eighth and his four meant a three-way tie.

That was because 41-year-old Jamie Spence, without a tour card at present, birdied the eighth and ninth.

They were all 13 under, one ahead of Dane Anders Hansen. Finch had been 12 under as well, but for the second day running was in the lake on the eighth and double-bogeyed to fall four behind.

Murphy, meanwhile, had collapsed to five under, dropping seven shots in five holes.