Dredge ends his long wait for a title

The 29-year-old from Cardiff carded a final round of 71 to finish a massive 16 under par on the scenic Santo da Serra course.

English duo Brian Davis and Andrew Marshall shared second spot with Swede Fredrik Andersson after they all finished on eight under.

Londoner Sam Little, who had been chasing Dredge, faltered over the back nine and finished back in fifth.

The foundations for Dredge's maiden victory had really already been made after his brilliant 60 in Saturday's third round.

I never imagined in my wildest dreams I would have eight putts to win Bradley Dredge

He just missed out on recording the first-ever 59 on the European Tour, but he was delighted to have at last reached a personal landmark.

"I've waited for this for a long time," said Dredge. "Last year was especially frustrating, even though I've tried to be patient.

"My 60 in the third round made it so much easier. Nobody really came after me and that made my day a lot easier."

"I looked at the leaderboard at the 12th and when I saw I still had an eight or nine-shot lead I just cruised from there."

Dredge went into the final day with a comfortable eight-shot lead but early nerves showed as he bogeyed the first.

FINAL LEADERBOARD -16 Bradley Dredge (Wal) -8 Brian Davis (Eng) Fredrik Andersson (Swe) Andrew Marshall(Eng) -7 Sam Little(Eng) Full scores and totals

He can be forgiven the jitters - the last time he held an overnight lead going into the final round was in the 2002 Volvo Masters at Valderrama, where he eventually finished third.

But the Welshman, the highest-ranked player in the event, showed a steeliness in Madeira and quickly gained composure by dropping a birdie in at the third.

Now, Dredge has set his sights on another target: "I've been thinking if I get into the top 50, I could get to Augusta for the US Masters," he said.