Dredge hit by 18th jinx as Borrego bounces clear

History repeated itself for Bradley Dredge yesterday as the Welshman lost the lead in the Great North Open here with a closing double-bogey. But this time it cost him only £5 compared to nearly £100,000.

A year ago Dredge shared top place with Andrew Coltart standing on the final tee of the tournament, but his drive hit a spectator and was diverted into heavy rough. The six not only cost him his first European Tour victory, but dropped him to joint fourth place. On his return to the hole in the first round this evening the 28-year-old from Tredegar was six under par and joint leader with Diego Borrego of Spain.

Dredge decided to have a £5 bet with his caddie that he would make par – but 10 minutes later was paying out. "I hate that hole," said Dredge after putting his second in a bunker 50 yards short of the green, going from there into rough and taking three more. "I did think about last year on the tee, but I hit a good drive this time and it's really annoying because I was playing so well. Still, I'll have to go double or quits on the bet tomorrow."

Borrego, winner of the Madeira Island Open in March, finished the day two ahead of not only Dredge, but also of Surrey's Andrew Raitt and the Belgian Nicolas Vanhootegem. The Malaga golfer began on the back nine with three successive birdies, turned in 31 and then sank a 25-foot putt on the 349-yard fifth for his 66. Coltart also had a double-bogey at the last hole – in his case the 453-yard ninth – for a 73.

Warren Bennett was in the wars again, withdrawing after 13 holes following a recurrence of rib trouble. The problem started three weeks ago and driving to this tournament, Bennett heard about England's Andrew Caddick being put out of cricket for four to six weeks with the same injury. After struggling to six over yesterday, the 30-year-old felt the rib go again playing out of the rough and now faces another lay-off. Great things were expected of Bennett when he turned professional after out-scoring Tiger Woods in the World Amateur Team Championship in Paris and being top amateur in the Open 10 years ago, but he played only 10 events in his first two years as a tour member because of a twisted vertebrae.

Bennett then took six months to recover from a bout of pneumonia in October 1999 – just after his maiden tour victory – and after that needed several more months of treatment to cure damage to the nerves and bones in his neck. He finished 29th on the Order of Merit last year, but had to pull out of the last three events because of an ankle injury.

GREAT NORTH OPEN (Slaley Hall, Northumberland): Leading first-round scores (GB or Irl unless stated): 66 D Borrego (Sp). 68 A Raitt, B Dredge, N Vanhootegem (Bel). 69 R Wessels (SA), M Knight (Swit), A Oldcorn, D Smyth, G Havret (Fr). 70 B Rumford (Aus), P Casey, P Fowler (Aus), R Green (Aus), M Persson (Swe), H Otto (SA), G Brand Jnr. 71 A Mednick (Swe), G Baruffaldi (It), P Lawrie, S Dyson, B Lane, E Boult (NZ), S Little, G Emerson, P Dwyer, S Struver (Ger). 72 A Wall, P Baker, R Chapman, D Edlund (Swe), D Lee, R Muntz (Neth), P Broadhurst, J Bevan, M Tunnicliff, M Cayeux (Zim), B Teilleria (Fr), I Goroneskoul (Fr), D Park, M Mackenzie, M Roe, J Hugo (SA), K Ferrie, M Blackey, G Murphy. 73 I Garbutt, C Pottier (Fr), G Rojas (Arg), N Cheetham, G Houston, S Scahill (NZ), M Lanner (Swe), A Coltart, G Storm, M Davis, R Claydon, S Luna (Sp), M Pendaries (Fr), J Maria Arruti (Sp), N O'Hern (Aus), E Darcy, F Andersson (Swe), S Webster, D Gilford, M Maritz (SA), W Riley (Aus), J Rask (Swe).