Early starter Dredge joins the leaders

Wales’ Bradley Dredge, two over par after his first hole of the tournament, moved into a share of the lead in the Deutsche Bank Championship today.

Dredge lost a ball on the opening hole of his delayed first round on Friday to run up a double-bogey six.

He recovered from that terrible start to record seven birdies and an eagle for a six-under-par 66, one shot behind overnight leaders Michael Campbell and Henrik Stenson.

And another birdie on the third when play resumed this morning took Dredge into a share of the lead on seven under par.

US Open champion Campbell and Stenson were among the later starters.

Dredge remained seven under after seven holes and was overtaken at the top of the leaderboard by England's Brian Davis.

Davis began the day six shots off the pace after an opening 71 but defied the damp, overcast conditions to race to the turn in 32 with four birdies.

In the first group out on the course, Davis then picked up further birdies at the 10th, 12th and 14th to improve to eight under, one clear of Dredge, Campbell, Stenson and Scotland’s Steven O’Hara.

O’Hara, a former Walker Cup player, was three under for 14 holes of his round.