Stephen Christopher Dodd (born 15 July 1966) is a Welsh

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who after a moderate career, unexpectedly won two events on the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fif ...

in the 2005 season at the age of 38 and won a third time in 2006. He also won the

2005 WGC-World Cup The 2005 WGC-World Cup took place 17–20 November at the Oceânico Golf on its Victoria Course in Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal. It was the 51st World Cup and the sixth as a World Golf Championship event. The course was designed by Arnold Palmer ...

in partnership with Bradley Dredge. Since turning 50 he has won four times on the

European Senior Tour The Legends Tour is the current branding of the European Senior Tour, a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was branded as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based insur ...

, including the 2021 Senior Open Championship.

Personal life

Dodd was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

. He resides in

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

with his wife Allison and their son Liam.

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 The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later t ...

that year and the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first ma ...

the following year. He played in the

1989 Walker Cup The 1989 Walker Cup, the 32nd Walker Cup Match, was played on August 16 and 17, 1989, at Peachtree Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia. The event was won by the Great Britain and Ireland team, 12½ to 11½. It was the Great Britain and Ireland team's thir ...

, 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 The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History ...

. 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 In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

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 The Volvo China Open is a men's golf tournament that has been held annually in China since 1995. The event is organised by the China Golf Association and has been co-sanctioned by the European Tour since 2004. It has also featured as part of the A ...

(actually played in late 2004), which was one of several events co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for ...

. 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 The Irish Open (currently known as the Horizon Irish Open for sponsorship reasons) () is a professional golf tournament on the European Tour. The Irish Open was first played in 1927 and was played annually, except for the war years, until 1950. ...

in May, 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 The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

. In 2006 Dodd won the

Smurfit European Open The European Open is a European Tour golf tournament. Founded in 1978, up to 1994 it was played at various courses in England, including Sunningdale and Walton Heath, except for the 1979 event, which was held at Turnberry in Scotland. Between ...

, granting him a five-year exemption on the European Tour. 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 The PGA EuroPro Tour was a men's developmental professional golf tour. It was created in 2002 by the merger of two development tours, the EuroPro Tour and the PGA MasterCard Tour, as the Professional Golfers' Association and Barry Hearn's Match ...

, a few weeks before his 50th birthday. Dodd joined the

after turning 50. In his first season, 2016, he won the

Senior Italian Open The Senior Italian Open is a men's professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and above which is part of the European Senior Tour schedule. It was played from 2004 to 2008 and then restarted in 2016. The tournament was originally played at ...

and followed up with wins in the 2017

Farmfoods European Senior Masters The Farmfoods European Senior Masters is a men's professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and above which is part of the European Senior Tour. It was first held in October 2017 at the Forest of Arden Hotel and Country Club, Meriden near ...

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 Miguel Ángel Jiménez Rodríguez (born 5 January 1964) is a Spanish professional golfer. He has won 21 times on the European Tour and has been a member of two victorious Ryder Cup teams. Early years Born in Málaga in southern Spain, Jim� ...

by one shot. The win also gave him an exemption into the 2022 Open Championship.

Amateur wins

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

Professional wins (19)

European Tour wins (3)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

Challenge Tour wins (1)

PGA EuroPro Tour wins (1)

MENA Tour wins (3)

Other wins (7)

*1991 Memorial Olivier Barras *1995

Welsh PGA Championship The Welsh National PGA Championship is a golf tournament played annually in Wales since 1904. For many years the event was called the Welsh Professional Championship. Currently entry is restricted to professionals employed by a Welsh club and thos ...

*2001

*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)

European Senior Tour wins (4)

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = No tournament due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

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

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" = Tied

Senior major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Results not in chronological order before 2022.'' CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to

Team appearances

Amateur *

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

(winners) *

European Amateur Team Championship The European Amateur Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for men organised by the European Golf Association which was introduced in 1959. The championship was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has bee ...

(representing Wales):

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

Professional * Seve Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland):

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

(winners) *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing Wales):

(winners), 2006,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dodd, Stephen Welsh male golfers European Tour golfers European Senior Tour golfers Winners of senior major golf championships Sportspeople from Cardiff 1966 births Living people