IN-FORM Bradley Dredge is known for being one of the best putters on the European Tour and it is just as well because if he is going to lift the Celtic Manor Wales Open title on Sunday, he will need to master the terrifying undulating greens on the Roman Road course.

Dredge is among the top five putters on Tour and has risen to 24th on the Order of Merit and believes that the flat blade will be the key to winning on surfaces more suitable for dancing on than putting.

"The greens are very undulating and there will be some tough pin positions which should be very good," Dredge said.

"A bit of rain will be good for them and you have to putt well to do well on this course.

"You need to putt well if you want to have a good tournament anyway but especially here.

He added: "I have played here a few more times than most of the guys, so that might be an advantage, but a few of the tees are in some very tricky places and it will be interesting."

Dredge is in a rich vein of form, with an equal tenth finish at last week's BMW Championships at Wentworth, the European Tour's flagship event.

"That was the first time I made the cut at Wentworth so it was a bit of an improvement," he joked.

"But it is nice to be playing well at the moment. I feel very comfortable with my game and I am going in the right direction.

"I am aiming for the top 15 and then the top ten."

A win in Wales would go some way to achieving that feat and Dredge would like nothing better.

"That would be great," he said. "I just need to get through to the weekend in good shape and it it would be great to be going down the stretch with the Welsh fans behind me."

Meanwhile, former Open winner Paul Lawrie is hoping to avoid a repeat on the 2001 Wales Open when the weather restricted the event to 36 holes - when the Scot lost in a sudden death play-off to Ireland's Paul McGinley.

"It has shades of 2001," Lawrie told the Argus after a rain-soaked pro-am round.

"Hopefully we can get a break in the weather and that won't be the case and we can get the business done.

"I don't think it will. The course is in great condition and for a second course, it is fantastic."

He added: "When you play in Britain, you have to expect some bad weather sometimes."

Lawrie made up for his 2001 disappointment by lifting the trophy the following year, as he coasted home with a five-stroke winning cushion.

"I have some nice memories of this place with a first and a second," he said.

"It is always good to come back here. I am playing well and will have to wait and see."

Monmouth's David Park is hoping to pick up the trophy in his own back yard.

"I live less than 20 minutes away, which doesn't happen very often on Tour," Park said.

"I can go home at night, which is nice, and I have plenty of friends and family here to cheer me on.

"My goal, as always, is to try and get myself in contention to win the tournament."