Stephen Dodd

{{for multi|the Australian actor|Steve Dodd|the Australian footballer|Steven Dodd|the police officer killed by an IRA bomb|Harrods bombing}}

{{Infobox golfer

| name = Stephen Dodd

| image = Stephen Dodd (cropped).JPG

| caption = Dodd in 2009

| fullname = Stephen Christopher Dodd

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1966|7|15}}

| birth_place = Cardiff, Wales

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{height|ft=5|in=11}}

| weight = {{convert|187|lb|kg st|abbr=on}}

| nationality = {{WAL}}

| residence = Barry, Wales

| spouse =

| partner =

| children =

| college =

| yearpro = 1990

| retired =

| tour = European Senior Tour
PGA Tour Champions

| extour = European Tour
Challenge Tour
PGA EuroPro Tour
MENA Tour

| prowins = 19

| eurowins = 3

| asiawins = 1

| chalwins = 1

| champwins = 1

| seneurowins = 4

| otherwins = 11

| majorwins =

| masters = CUT: 1990

| usopen = DNP

| open = CUT: 1989, 2005, 2006, 2022

| pga = CUT: 2005, 2006

| wghofid =

| wghofyear =

| award1 = MENA Golf Tour
Order of Merit winner

| year1 = 2012

| award2 = European Senior Tour
Order of Merit winner

| year2 = 2021

| awardssection =

}}

Stephen Christopher Dodd (born 15 July 1966) is a Welsh professional golfer who after a moderate career, unexpectedly won two events on the European Tour in the 2005 season at the age of 38 and won a third time in 2006. He also won the 2005 WGC-World Cup in partnership with Bradley Dredge. Since turning 50 he has won four times on the European Senior Tour, including the 2021 Senior Open Championship.

Amateur career

Dodd had a successful amateur career highlighted by victory in The Amateur Championship at Royal Birkdale in 1989, which qualified him to play in The Open Championship that year and the Masters Tournament the following year. He played in the 1989 Walker Cup, being part of the first Great Britain and Ireland team to win in the United States. He was named BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year in 1989.

Professional career

Dodd turned professional in 1990. He spent the early years of his professional career on Europe's second tier Challenge Tour. In 1992 he won the Bank Austria Open on that tour, but his results were generally patchy. He first gained his place on the main European Tour in 1995, but found himself returning to qualifying school every year until 2001, when he finally broke into the top 100 on the Order of Merit to automatically retain his playing status. He then steadily improved, having new personal best seasons in 2003 and 2004, finishing 80th and 58th respectively on the money list.

The 2005 season marked a sudden improvement in Dodd's fortunes. He won the first tournament he entered that season, the Volvo China Open (actually played in late 2004), which was one of several events co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Asian Tour.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/4049161.stm |title=Dodd claims first tour victory |work=BBC Sport |date=28 November 2004 |access-date=13 April 2009}} A few weeks later he picked up a new biggest paycheck of his career by coming tied second in the higher profile Dubai Desert Classic. He went on to win the Nissan Irish Open in May,{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/4571735.stm |title=Dodd wins Irish Open in play-off |work=BBC Sport |date=22 May 2005 |access-date=13 April 2009}} and in November he won the WGC-World Cup for Wales in partnership with Bradley Dredge. He finished the season ranked a career high 17th on the Order of Merit.

In 2006 Dodd won the Smurfit European Open, granting him a five-year exemption on the European Tour.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/5163396.stm |title=Dodd claims European Open victory |work=BBC Sport |date=9 July 2006 |access-date=13 April 2009}} He finished the season ranked 29th on the Order of Merit. Since then his form has dropped, and in 2008 he made just 4 cuts as he slipped to 245th on the end of season money list. His career started to decline and by 2012, he was playing on the third-tier Dubai-based MENA Golf Tour, where he had three wins. In 2016 he won the GRENKE Championship on the PGA EuroPro Tour, a few weeks before his 50th birthday.

Dodd joined the European Senior Tour after turning 50. In his first season, 2016, he won the Senior Italian Open and followed up with wins in the 2017 Farmfoods European Senior Masters and the 2018 WINSTONgolf Senior Open.

Dodd's biggest success of his career came at the 2021 Senior Open Championship. He shot an 8-under-par 62 in the third round to take a two shot lead going into the final round. A 68 on the final day was good enough to see off Miguel Ángel Jiménez by one shot. The win also gave him an exemption into the 2022 Open Championship.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/57965052 |title=Senior Open: Wales' Stephen Dodd wins at Sunningdale |work=BBC Sport |date=25 July 2021 |access-date=10 August 2021}}

Personal life

Dodd was born in Cardiff. He resides in Barry, Wales with his wife Allison and their son Liam.

Amateur wins

1989 The Amateur Championship, Welsh Amateur Championship, Welsh Amateur Open Stroke Play Championship

Professional wins (19)

=European Tour wins (3)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning score!!Margin of
victory!!Runner(s)-up

align=center|1

|align=right|28 Nov 2004
(2005 season)

|Volvo China Open¹

|−12 (68-70-70-68=276)

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|DEN}} Thomas Bjørn

align=center|2

|align=right|22 May 2005

|Nissan Irish Open

|−9 (69-70-72-68=279)

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|ENG}} David Howell

align=center|3

|align=right|9 Jul 2006

|Smurfit Kappa European Open

|−9 (67-69-73-70=279)

|2 strokes

|{{flagicon|ESP}} José Manuel Lara, {{flagicon|ENG}} Anthony Wall

¹Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent!!Result

style="background:#D0F0C0;"

|align=center|1

|2005

|Nissan Irish Open

|{{flagicon|ENG}} David Howell

|Won with birdie on first extra hole

=Challenge Tour wins (1)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning score!!Margin of
victory!!Runner-up

align=center|1

|align=right|5 Jul 1992

|Bank Austria Open

|−11 (69-67-71-70=277)

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|SCO}} Gordon Manson

Challenge Tour playoff record (0–1)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent!!Result

style="background:#F2C1D1;"

|align=center|1

|1992

|Memorial Olivier Barras

|{{flagicon|ENG}} Jeff Hall

|Lost to birdie on second extra hole

=PGA EuroPro Tour wins (1)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!Margin of
victory

!Runner-up

align=center|1

|align=right|24 Jun 2016

|Grenke Championship

|−13 (66-66-68=200)

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|ENG}} Adam Hodkinson

=MENA Golf Tour wins (3)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!Margin of
victory

!Runners-up

align=center|1

|align=right|24 Oct 2012

|Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open

|−11 (68-68-69=205)

|2 strokes

|{{flagicon|ENG}} Martin LeMesurier, {{flagicon|ENG}} Zane Scotland

align=center|2

|align=right|21 Mar 2013

|Royal D'Anfa Open

|−6 (70-69-71=210)

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|ENG}} Ian Keenan, {{flagicon|ENG}} Zane Scotland

align=center|3

|align=right|23 Oct 2013

|Abu Dhabi Golf Citizen Open

|−6 (72-68-70=210)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|ENG}} Stuart Archibald, {{flagicon|ENG}} Craig Hinton

=Other wins (7)=

1991 Memorial Olivier Barras
1995 Welsh PGA Championship
2001 Welsh PGA Championship
2005 WGC-World Cup (with Bradley Dredge)
2007 Ryder Cup Wales Welsh PGA Championship
2011 Welsh National PGA Championship
2014 Welsh National PGA Championship

=PGA Tour Champions wins (1)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

! Legend

style="background:#e5d1cb;"

|Senior major championships (1)

Other PGA Tour Champions (0)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!Margin of
victory

!Runner-up

style="background:#e5d1cb;"

|align=center|1

|align=right|25 Jul 2021

|The Senior Open Championship

|−13 (66-71-62-68=267)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|ESP}} Miguel Ángel Jiménez

=European Senior Tour wins (4)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

! Legend

style="background:#e5d1cb;"

|Senior major championships (1)

Other European Senior Tour (3)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!Margin of
victory

!Runner(s)-up

align=center|1

|align=right|23 Oct 2016

|Senior Italian Open

|−9 (69-64-71=204)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|WAL}} Phillip Price

align=center|2

|align=right|22 Oct 2017

|Farmfoods European Senior Masters

|−2 (71-73-70=214)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|USA}} Clark Dennis, {{flagicon|IRL}} Paul McGinley

align=center|3

|align=right|15 Jul 2018

|WINSTONgolf Senior Open

|−15 (64-66-71=201)

|6 strokes

|{{flagicon|FRA}} Jean-François Remésy

style="background:#e5d1cb;"

|align=center|4

|align=right|25 Jul 2021

|The Senior Open Championship

|−13 (66-71-62-68=267)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|ESP}} Miguel Ángel Jiménez

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1989

!1990

!1991

!1992

!1993

!1994

!1995

!1996

!1997

!1998

!1999

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|The Open Championship

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!2000

!2001

!2002

!2003

!2004

!2005

!2006!!2007!!2008!!2009

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!2010!!2011!!2012!!2013!!2014!!2015!!2016!!2017!!2018

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!2019!!2020!!2021!!2022

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

CUT = missed the half-way cut

NT = No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Note: Dodd never played in the U.S. Open.

Results in World Golf Championships

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!Tournament!!2005!!2006

align="left"|Match Play

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align="left"|Championship

|T18

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align="left"|Invitational

|69

|T50

"T" = Tied

Senior major championships

=Wins (1)=

class="wikitable"

!Year!!Championship!!54 holes!!Winning score!!Margin!!Runner-up

style="background:#ABCDEF;"

|2021

The Senior Open Championship

2 shot lead

−13 (66-71-62-68=267)

1 stroke

{{flagicon|ESP}} Miguel Ángel Jiménez

=Results timeline=

Results not in chronological order.

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament !! 2016 !! 2017 !! 2018 !! 2019 !! 2020 !! 2021 !! 2022 !! 2023!!2024!!2025

align=left|The Tradition

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T68

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T75

|73

align=left|Senior PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|T56

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T70

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|WD

align=left|Senior Players Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T25

|66

|

align=left|U.S. Senior Open

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|

align=left|The Senior Open Championship

|T14

|T61

|T18

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:lime;"|1

|T47

|CUT

|T64

|

CUT = missed the halfway cut

WD = withdrw

"T" indicates a tie for a place

NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Team appearances

Amateur

Walker Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1989 (winners)
European Amateur Team Championship (representing Wales): 1987, 1989

Professional

Seve Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2005 (winners)
World Cup (representing Wales): 2005 (winners), 2006, 2007, 2009

References

External links

{{EuroTour player|5529}}
{{PGATour player|11127}}
{{OWGR|4311}}

{{World Golf Championships winners|selected=WGC-World Cup winners}}

Category:Welsh male golfers

Category:European Tour golfers

Category:European Senior Tour golfers

Category:Winners of senior major golf championships

Category:Sportspeople from Cardiff

Category:1966 births

Category:Living people