Starting from the 10th, Olesen started the day with a bogey but bounced back with birdies third, fourth, seventh and eighth to make the turn in 33.
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The diminutive Olesen (1.75m/5ft 9in), who hails from Fureso, a few 20km from Copenhagen, tied for second at this event in 2010, and won his first tournament at the Sicilian Open in April 2012 before adding his second win in 2014 when he finished three shots clear of French number one Victor Dubuisson at the Perth worldwide.
It represented an improvement of 10 shots on his opening round at Carnoustie for 42-year-old Dredge.
“We will see how the weather is tomorrow but if it’s the same, there’s definitely going to be a lot of birdies”.
Olesen, who bogeyed the first hole but birdied four of the next seven and four of his last five, discovered a tendon problem in his left hand over the winter but battled on for four events – missing the cut in the last three – before undergoing surgery after his last appearance in Malaysia at the start of February.
The tournament is split between three courses, with players alternating between St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie.
That meant he came into the week a lowly 124th on the Race to Dubai, with just the top 110 retaining their cards at the end of the season, but the £525,000 first prize and exemption until the end of 2017 has solved all his problems.
After a par at 13, the 40-year-old then got into red figures for the first time with his third birdie in five holes at the next.
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The Dane carded a one-under-par 71 to finish on 18 under, two strokes ahead of Brooks Koepka, with fellow American Chris Stroud a shot further back. But yeah, hopefully I can do it this week. It’s definitely a nice position to be in, and you know you can shoot a good score around this golf course if the weather is nice.
