Welsh golfer Bradley Dredge says he remains hungry for success as he prepares to start life on the Legends Tour.
Two-time European Tour winner Dredge turns 50 in July.
That means he will be eligible to make his debut on the Legends Tour – for players aged 50 and over – at the Senior Open Championship at Royal Porthcawl, which runs from 27-30 July.
“It’s another chapter of your life, of your golfing career,” Dredge said.
“I am very lucky as a golfer that you get that option to go on and play in your fifties.
“I still love playing golf, I love practising. I am still trying to improve and I still love the competitive nature.”
Dredge has not competed much in recent times thanks to a combination of Covid-19’s impact and his own fitness issues.
The Tredegar-born player’s European Tour – now known as the DP World Tour – victories came at the 2003 Madeira Islands Open and the European Masters three years later.
A professional since 1996, Dredge represented Great Britain and Ireland at the Seve Trophy in 2005 and 2007, around the same time as he featured in the top 50 of golf’s world rankings.
He continued to be a prominent figure on the tour until the pandemic heavily limited his involvement, before a planned return to more regular golf was ruined by a back injury.
The fitness troubles meant Dredge had the option of applying for a medical exemption to compete on the DP World Tour this year, but he opted against the idea because his focus is switching to the Legends Tour.
“I would only have wanted to play a few events at the start of this year, so I didn’t want to take up a place of one of the younger guys starting [on the DP World Tour],”
“I saw it when I was starting off and it was very difficult to get into events. I don’t want to be one of those guys who is taking up a space when it is just a bit of practice for me now.
“I am not trying to keep my card. My career now isn’t on the main tour. For me I see my future more on the Legends Tour.”
His debut on what used to be known as the European Senior Tour comes in its biggest investment, the Senior Open.
The tournament this year returns to Royal Porthcawl for the third time and starts three weeks after Dredge’s 50th birthday.
Dredge says home advantage will “definitely help” as he looks to compete with a field which is likely to feature numerous big names.
Darren Clarke is the defending champion after victory at Gleneagles last year, when Padraig Harrington – who has just confirmed that he will play in Wales – came second.
Bernhard Langer has won four times in the past 13 years – including both the previous Royal Porthcawl editions of the event – with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Fred Couples among the other notable names who have triumphed in recent times.
LIV Golf’s Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood are among the other big names who could feature, though whether that will happen remains to be seen.
“I am sure you will have some of the American guys coming over,” Dredge said.
“Mr Langer I am sure will be making an appearance – he is incredible.
“Then we have homegrown players in Phil Price and Stephen Dodd. There’s going to be a lot of competition.”
Dredge, whose best Open Championship finish was tied-27th at St Andrews in 2010, says his expectations will not be too high going into the Senior Open given his recent lack of tournament golf.
Nevertheless, he does not rule out the idea of contending.
“The big thing in anybody’s career is having the opportunity to win events,” Dredge added.
“I am not Tiger Woods who wins perhaps a third of the events he plays in, or used to, but if I give myself a chance, or am in the mix on the last day coming down the back nine, that’s what’s exciting for someone of my standard of play.
“If I had a chance going into the last day, a sniff of victory, I would take it straight away.”
