Bradley Dredge leads Irish Open
by one shot from Richard Finch

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Bradley Dredge is poised to take sweet revenge at the Irish Open after a quite unbelievable third round at the Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort climaxed with the Welshman taking a one- stroke lead over England’s Richard Finch.
Dredge was the forgotten man of last year’s Irish Open after he lost in a sudden-death play-off to home hero Padraig Harrington, who ended the 25-year drought for a home winner in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
Harrington’s victory sparked wild celebrations last year and, understandably, dominated the pre-tournament talk in the build up to this week’s event.
In all of the hype and excitement, no-one considered Dredge as a contender to succeed Harrington, but the 34 year old from Cardiff has put himself in a wonderful position to go one better in Sunday’s final round.
Dredge’s six under par 66 elevated him to the top of the leaderboard on nine under par 207, one clear of Finch on what was an amazing day’s golf at Adare Manor.
“I would love to go out tomorrow – and obviously not get in a play-off – and see things going my way. I certainly don't want to go into a play-off with an Irishman, let’s put it that way!” smiled Dredge.
“I was very disappointed after losing last year in the play-off, but after a couple of days, you're on to the next one and you're focusing on that. Coming here this year, I have good memories of playing the course well last year, even though the conditions were tougher. But the lay-ups are still the same, so, yeah, good memories, all in all.”
Dredge and Finch, who posted a seven under par 65, were joined by Lee Westwood, David Frost, Grégory Havret and the Irish contingent of Clarke, Harrington and McIlroy as the main protagonists in a day packed with excitement.
Havret set the tone for the afternoon with his brilliant 65. The Frenchman was the first man to tee off on Saturday morning and his seven-birdie haul – that could have been better given he parred three of Adare’s four par-5s – saw him move from a tie for last place at the start of the day into joint ninth place going into the final round.
Next up was Westwood, who began the day on one over par, but produced a monstrous finish, picking up six shots in the last five hole, to set a new course record of eight under par 64 and haul himself into third position on seven under for the tournament, two behind Dredge.
Cue Frost to come home with a 66 and a share of fourth place on six under, alongside Felipe Aguilar and Robert Karlsson, whose respective rounds of 67 and 69 also contributed to the festival of golf that was unfolding in front of the Irish fans.
With a host of international players delighting the home crowd, all that was required was one of their own to charge through the field and provide a perfect day.
That may not have completely materialised, but with McIlroy just five off the lead on four under, and Clarke and Harrington on three under, there could yet be an Irish twist to the tale.
Clarke was looking at threatening the lead until a poor tee shot at the 18th saw the Ulsterman come undone as he then found a fairway bunker and thinned his third shot out of bounds, eventually succumbing to a triple bogey 8.
As the fourth round dawns, it is Clarke’s third round playing partner who is the man to catch. After what happened here 12 months ago, no-one would begrudge Dredge an Irish Open success, but if the final day is anything like the third, it will be a thrilling and fitting end to what has been a wonderful week in Ireland.
THIRD ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 216 (3 x 762)
207 Bradley Dredge 68 73 66.
208 Richard Finch 71 72 65.
209 Lee Westwood 75 70 64.
210 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 70 69, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 71 72 67, David Frost (Rsa) 74 70 66.
211 Ross Fisher 74 68 69, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 77 66 68
.212 Anthony Wall 72 70 70, Rory McIlroy 70 72 70, Lee S James 69 73 70, James Kingston (Rsa) 75 68 69, Stephen Gallacher 73 71 68, Gary Murphy 74 70 68, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 72 72 68, Gregory Havret (Fra) 77 70 65
213 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 70 75, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 69 72 72, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 76 66 71, Darren Clarke 72 69 72, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 70 73, Padraig Harrington 72 71 70
214 Marcel Siem (Ger) 68 71 75, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 71 72, Steven O'Hara 74 68 72, Johan Edfors (Swe) 68 73 73, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 70 73 71
215 Richard Green (Aus) 66 74 75, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 77 68 70, Paul McGinley 73 69 73, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 70 73 72, Paul Broadhurst 73 74 68
216 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 73 73 70, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 74 70 72, Oliver Fisher 72 75 69
217 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 66 76 75, Gary Orr 71 73 73, Peter Baker 72 69 76, Colin Montgomerie 75 69 73, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 73 72 72, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 72 73 72, Julio Zapata (Arg) 72 73 72, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 77 69 71, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72 72 73, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 75 69 73
218 Oliver Wilson 74 73 71, Alastair Forsyth 71 72 75, Peter Lawrie 71 75 72, Barry Lane 73 72 73
219 Luis Claverie (Spa) 73 73 73, Scott Strange (Aus) 71 74 74, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 74 72 73, Stuart Manley 71 72 76, John Bickerton 72 70 77
220 Stephen Dodd 74 71 75, Ross McGowan 74 71 75, Simon Khan 71 74 75, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 74 75
221 Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 71 75 75, Pedro Linhart (Spa) 71 76 74, Paul Waring 76 70 75, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 77 74
222 Peter Hanson (Swe) 74 73 75.
223 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 73 74 76, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 72 74 77.
224 Benoit Teilleria (Fra) 75 72 77
225 David Drysdale 74 72 79, Matthew Millar (Aus) 73 73 79.