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Welshman Dodd clinches European Open

09/07/2006

Welshman Stephen Dodd secured his first title of the season after victory in the European Open by two strokes at the K Club in Ireland.

Dodd, 39, shot a final round of 70 to finish on two-under for the tournament edging out overnight leader Jose Manuel Lara and England's Anthony Wall who carded rounds of 74 and 73 respectively.

The WGC-World Cup winner birdied two of the last three holes to seal the title after struggling at the front nine in blustery conditions at the Smurfit course.

Dodd, who has three European titles to his name, pocketed a winners cheque for $740,000.

Ireland's Paul McGinley shot a final round of 69 to finish joint-third on six-under with five other players including English duo Lee Westwood and Simon Khan.

Dodd, who moves up to 16th in the Ryder Cup table after his triumph, admitted his ambition is to return to the K Club in September to represent Europe against the United States.

He said: "The Ryder Cup's a long way off. There are a lot of tournaments to play and I suppose your form can go as quickly as it comes."

"Of course I'd like to play. It's everybody's dream to play in it."

He added that it was a relief to finally win his first title of the season.

"It's been a pretty poor year, but golf's golf and you never know what's round the corner," he said.

Dodd capitalised on Lara's nightmare on the back nine after the Spaniard bogeyed three holes in succession resulting in another missed opportunity to bag his first European title after three second-place finishes.

Wall's 35-foot birdie putt on the 18th tied him for second and secures him qualification for the Open in a fortnight at Hoylake.

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