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 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 fi ...

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 Bradley Dredge (born 6 July 1973) is a Welsh professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. He has won twice on the tour, the 2003 Madeira Island Open and the 2006 Omega European Masters, both by 8 strokes. He also won the 2005 WGC-World Cup ...

. 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 insu ...

, including the

2021 Senior Open Championship The 2021 Senior Open Championship was a senior major golf championship and the 34th Senior Open Championship, held on 22–25 July at Sunningdale Golf Club in Sunningdale, England. It was the third Senior Open Championship played at the course a ...

Personal life

Dodd was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. 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. 19 ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

with his wife Allison and their son Liam.

Amateur career

Dodd had a successful amateur career highlighted by victory in

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

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 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 The BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year is a televised sporting competition, broadcast on BBC Two every year; and the most prestigious annual Sport in Wales, sport award in Wales. It was first awarded in 1954, and is currently organise ...

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 T ...

. 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 (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 Wo ...

. 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 The Dubai Desert Classic is a European Tour golf tournament held on Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In 1999 and 2000 it was held at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, all other editions have been held at Emirates Go ...

. He went on to win the Nissan Irish Open in May, and in November he won the

WGC-World Cup The World Cup of Golf is a men's golf tournament contested by teams of two representing their country. Only one team is allowed from each country. The players are selected on the basis of the Official World Golf Ranking, although not all of the fir ...

for Wales in partnership with

. 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. 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 The MENA Tour is a golf tour in the Middle East and North Africa. It was founded in 2011 by the Dubai-based Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation. It was previous affiliated to The R&A and the Arab Golf Federation. The previous iteration of the tour wa ...

, 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 Matchr ...

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

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 The Senior Open Championship, or simply The Senior Open (and originally known as the Senior British Open) is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is run by The R&A, the same body that organises The Open Championship. P ...

. 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, Jiménez ...

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

Amateur wins

*1989

, 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 The Mémorial Olivier Barras is a professional golf tournament that is held annually at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in Crans-Montana, Valais, Switzerland. It was founded in 1965 in memory of Olivier Barras, a nine-time Swiss champion golfer who di ...

*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

(with

) *2007 Ryder Cup Wales Welsh PGA Championship *2011

Welsh National 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 ...

*2014

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 identi ...

''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 runs ...

(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 been ...

(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 Airport, ...

Professional *

Seve Trophy The Seve Trophy was a biennial golf tournament between teams of professional male golfers; one team representing Great Britain and Ireland, the other team representing Continental Europe. The tournament was played in years when there is no Ryder ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2005 (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): 2005 (winners), 2006, 2007, 2009

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