BRADLEY Dredge finished the Barclays Scottish Open eight shots off the eventual winner Argentine Eduardo Romero with a three-under-par - but qualified for the Open at Muirfield.

The Blackwood golfer's two-under-par 69 in the final round ensured he leapfrogged fellow countryman Phil Price on the leaderboard.

Bassaleg-based Price's final round of par 71 left him on two-under-par - but he had already qualified for the Open.

Ian Woosnam was the best-placed Welshman as his final par round kept him on four-under-par - leaving him seven shots behind Romero.

Dredge was one of seven golfers who qualified for the prestigious Open via a mini order-of-merit, a list which included Loch Lomond runner-up Fredrik Jacobson.

Romero became the third oldest winner in European tour history at Loch Lomond yesterday - and is £366,660 richer.

"I can buy my country," he joked after beating Swede Fredrik Jacobson with a nine-foot birdie putt at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off in the Barclays Scottish Open.

Romero, 48 on the eve of the Open this Wednesday, added: "It's a very special moment. I'm not old, but I could be these youngsters' father."

Only Ireland's Des Smyth and England's Neil Coles were older when they lifted titles - Smyth in Madeira last season and Coles at the 1982 Sanyo Open in Spain. Both had just turned 48.

Jacobson, five times a runner-up on the circuit without ever winning, led by one with two to play, just as he had at the Irish Open two years ago. On that occasion he bogeyed the final two holes. This time just one bogey was his undoing, but it was another bad one.

The 27-year-old three-putted the short 17th, missing from under three feet. Both parred the last to finish on the 11-under-par mark of 273, Romero holing from 10 feet for a 70 and Jacobson a three-footer for a 71.