Dredge takes halfway lead in Scandinavia

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

Dredge fired nine birdies and one bogey at Kungsangen to finish 13 under par, one clear of England’s Barry Lane and Sweden’s Pierre Fulke. Swede Henrik Nystrom and France’s Jean-Francois Remesy are a shot further back on 11 under.

Damien McGrane is best of the Irish on 10 under.

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 of the possibilities.

“The golf course would not be able to take much rain and my caddy and I discussed it beforehand,” said Dredge, whose previous tour win came after he shot a third-round 60 in the Madeira Island Open in 2003.

“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.

“A win is a win but everybody wants to do it the proper way. I’ve only won once and even in Madeira the last day was an anti-climax. I knew I only had to stay upright and play half decent and I was going to win.

“It was great to have an eight-shot lead going into the last round but you prepare yourself for that tricky five-footer on the last green to win a tournament. I practised that putt as a kid to win a tournament and we still do it now!”

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 the 32-year-old former Walker Cup player from Cardiff.

Barry Lane carded seven birdies to add a 66 to his opening 64 in his 533rd European Tour event.

The 45-year-old, who went 10 years without a win before claiming the British Masters title last year, would have shared the lead but for driving into the lake to the right of the 15th green to run up one of his two bogeys.

Pre-tournament favourite Adam Scott is six shots off the pace on seven under, the 2003 winner and world number seven adding a 65 to his opening 70.

With the course shortened by 386 yards due to the wet conditions, low scoring was the order of the day and the cut fell at four under par.

The Irish players joining McGrane in the third day were Peter Lawrie (five under) and Gary Murphy (four under).