Bradley Dredge's dream of winning his home Wales Open turned into a 10-minute nightmare at Celtic Manor today.

Two weeks after losing the Irish Open in a play-off to Padraig Harrington, Dredge was in sight of making perfect amends - and becoming £250,000 richer - when he stood on the last tee one shot ahead.

No Welsh player has ever lifted the trophy, but when South African Richard Sterne in the group ahead sank a five-foot birdie to complete a brilliant five under par inward 29 Dredge suddenly had to par to force another play-off.

However, for the second day running his drive failed to carry the right-hand bunker, he came up way short of the green by catching too much sand and then he lipped out from six feet.

''I really feel this is a kick in the nuts,'' said the 33-year-old after the most crushing bogey of his career. It cost him over £150,000.

And there was a piece of bad news to follow. By finishing in a four-way tie for second place rather than a two-way share he will just miss out on earning an exemption into next month's Open Championship through the world's top 50.

As with the US Open, which he has still to play in, Dredge has controversially decided not to compete in the 36-hole qualifier at Sunningdale on July 2, but there are various other ways in.

Sterne is the one who is no longer searching for a place at Carnoustie. Third in last week's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth - he was the one to suffer last-green agony there - the 25-year-old is now into the game's top 40 for the first time.

''Fantastic - that saves me playing 36 holes of qualifying,'' he said.

The two of them had both produced superb fightbacks after looking as if they might become also-rans in the title race.

Sterne birdied four of the last five holes for a 65 and 13 under par total of 263 on the par 69 Roman Road lay-out.

Dredge, joint overnight leader, fell four adrift by covering the first eight holes in a desperately disappointing two over, but then birdied the ninth and 10th and had three more in a row from the 15th.

After playing a 30-yard bunker shot to four feet on the long 16th to make it a five-way tie at the top he produced an even better approach to the difficult 17th and with a seven-foot putt led on his own for the first time.

There was to be no happy ending, however.

''I thought I needed a par to win and I thought I had carried the bunker on the last,'' he said after his bogey had dropped him into a tie with Danes Soren Kjeldsen and Mads Vibe-Hastrup and also Singapore's Mardan Mamat, who closed with a best-of-the-week 62.

''When I was walking up to my pitch my caddie told me I had to get up and down. I hit a good pitch, but missed the putt.

''Tension? There's always tension over a six-footer. There was a lot of tension over all the putts today.

''I didn't play well until the ninth, but then I started getting the ball closer.

''It was nice to see that the crowd stayed with him when I was four behind. I knew I needed to do something and I was pleased to get the run going.

''It's frustrating that it ended as it did, but I thought the tee shot was okay. You make decisions and you hit the shots and that's all you can do.''

mfl Sterne, who lost a play-off to compatriot Anton Haig in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand in March, said: ''To get the breakthrough means a lot.

''It's always difficult when you are knocking on the door and you don't win. Obviously the crowd didn't want a South African to win, but they were fine.

''I didn't want him to bogey. I didn't watch, but I knew he had missed by the crowd's reaction.''

It was his second European Tour victory, but a very different one to the first. Capturing the 2004 Madrid Open spared him a return to the qualifying school.

Mamat, who had never previously made a halfway cut in Europe, had eight birdies to climb from 23rd, while Kjeldsen and Vibe-Hastrup shot 65 and 66 respectively.

Scot Gary Orr, England's Paul Broadhurst and Ireland's Gary Murphy were among others who still had a chance entering the closing stretch, but Murphy had to settle for a share of sixth place and the other two were in a tie for eighth.

Colin Montgomerie fired a 63, his lowest round since an opening 62 in the event last year, to leap from 50th to 20th.