Dredge finds form in Stockholm

Wales’ Bradley Dredge carded a superb 63 to lead the Scandinavian Masters in Stockholm today – and could already have done enough to win his second tour title.

Dredge fired nine birdies and one bogey at Kungsangen to set a daunting clubhouse target of 13 under par, two clear of Sweden’s Henrik Nystrom and France’s Jean-Francois Remesy.

The weather forecast for the weekend predicts more of the heavy rain which forced Wednesday’s pre-tournament pro-am to be cancelled, and Dredge was well aware that could even prove a winning total.

“The golf course would not be able to take much rain and my caddy and I discussed it beforehand,” said Dredge, who led by two going into the final round in Hamburg on Sunday but faded to fifth.

“We knew there was a chance if we have some thunderstorms we might not play on the weekend so we wanted to go as low as possible. Twelve under was the target and we’ve got to 13 which is great.”

Bad weather also affected last week’s Deutsche Bank Championship with the first day’s play washed out entirely and 36 holes played on Sunday.

Dredge carded a third-round 69 to lead by two shots after 54 holes, but could only manage a closing 73 to finish three behind eventual winner Niclas Fasth.

“It was a good chance to win and it was disappointing,” admitted Dredge, whose previous tour win came after he shot a third-round 60 in the Madeira Island Open in 2003.

“The main thing was to work on the putting routine. I felt I was taking too long standing over the ball and I’ve my trying to quicken up and let it happen rather than trying too hard.”

Overnight leader Marc Cayeux of Zimbabwe, who carded an opening 63, quickly dropped out of contention with three early bogeys to start his second round this afternoon.

Ireland's Damien McGrane is on -4 after three holes, with Peter Lawrie one further back. Gary Murphy is on -2 while Stephen Browne is on +2. All are in the early stages of today's round.