Stephen Dodd
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Stephen Dodd (born 15 July 1966) is a Welsh golfer who after a very moderate career, unexpectedly won two events on the European Tour in the 2005 season at the age of 38.
Dodd won The Amateur Championship at Royal Birkdale in 1989, which qualified him to play in the Masters the following year, but he spent the early years of his professional career on the second tier Challenge Tour. In 1992 he won the Bank Austria Open on that tour, but his results were generally patchy. He first qualified to for the main European Tour in 1995, but didn't finish in the top one hundred of the rankings until 2001, when he came 97th. He then had new personal best seasons in 2003 and 2004, finishing 80th and 58th respectively.
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 is one of several events co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Asian Tour. 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. In May 2005 he won the Nissan Irish Open, a considerably more prestigious tournament than his previous victory, and in November of the same year he won the WGC-World Cup for Wales in partnership with Bradley Dredge. He finished 2005 ranked 17th on the Order of Merit.
In 2006 he won the Smurfit European Open.
[edit] Team appearances
Amateur
- Walker Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1989
Professional
- Seve Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2005 (winners}
- WGC-World Cup (representing Wales): 2005 (winners)