Irish Open: Stephen Dodd's journey from oblivion becomes a wonderful odyssey with each golfing day. Having spent over a decade enduring a life in the nether region of professional golf, the 38-year-old Welshman has discovered a new world and found a capacity to win titles which yesterday enabled him to secure the Nissan Irish Open - his second victory of the season - after a play-off win at the first sudden-death hole over Ryder Cup player David Howell.
To be sure, Howell must be wondering what he has done to deserve the angst of the golfing gods.
A week after losing a play-off to Thomas Bjorn in the British Masters, the Englishman again left a tournament venue with the bitter taste of defeat after Dodd birdied the par five 18th to his par.
While it was Howell's third loss in a play-off on the PGA European Tour, Dodd - indicating a new resolve that has appeared late in his golfing career - claimed another victory to add to his China Open success. It was his first ever appearance in a play-off.
On a curious weather day, when hailstones the size of M&Ms were catapulted from the darkened skies and lightning in the area around Carton House forced play to be suspended for 90 minutes, Dodd finally brought an end to the elongated final round when he rolled in a three-footer for birdie having shortly before watched Howell's attempt from 30 feet fail to sink into the tin cup.
Howell's fate, in many ways, had been sealed with his approach shot to the 18th green. Although his tee-shot found the fairway, the old oak tree that dominates the left-hand side of the hole forced him to play a draw.
But the ball never moved, instead finishing in thick rough to the right of the green and close to the river Rye.
That he managed to find the green at all with his third shot was an accomplishment in itself, but the 35-feet birdie putt that he knew he needed to hole to extend the play-off narrowly missed its intended destination.
"I'm quite excited," said Dodd, in his own under-stated way. "This is a big difference from my win in China (last November) because, having won once, you always want to do so again. I'm sure David is disappointed, but he just has to be patient. His time will come."
Dodd, for one, understands all about being patient.
That first tour success in the China Open - the first official event of the 2005 European Tour - came in his 168th appearance on tour. Now, he has had to wait just a further eight tournaments to claim his second title; this time winning a cheque for €333,330 and joining Ernie Els as a multiple winner on tour.
The two play-off protagonists had finished on nine-under-par totals of 279, Howell finishing with a 70 - of which the highlight was a magnificent three-wood approach to the 15th, which set up a three-footer for eagle - while Dodd closed out with a 68.
The duo finished two shots clear of Angel Cabrera and overnight leader Nick Dougherty, with Padraig Harrington a shot further back in a three-way tie for fifth.
On a miserable day, Dougherty had a miserable start to his round. Having carried a two-shot 54-holes lead into the final round, he double-bogeyed the fifth - where he drove into thick rough and, on his first recovery shot, only managed to move the ball two feet - and bogeyed the sixth. To his credit, he birdied the final hole, for a 74, that enabled him to join Cabrera in tied-third.
By then, Howell and Dodd were preparing to be transported back to the 18th tee for the play-off.
All day, Dodd had played with remarkable composure, doing a good job of ignoring the wind and rain and icy chills of a so-called Irish summer. He was entirely focused on his task, claiming six birdies and two bogeys.
His sixth birdie came on the 72nd hole and, on the first play-off hole, he was to repeat the feat - his drive missing the fairway on the right, but one giving him an unimpeded view of the green.
His three-iron approach found the front of the green, and the two-putt birdie enabled him to claim the biggest prize of a professional career that started with high expectations in 1990 but necessitated 10 trips to the tour school before he could become established.
Howell became the first player since Trevor Immelman in 2003 to figure in back-to-back play-offs on the European Tour.
At least Immelman had the satisfaction of winning one of them.
"Last week, I was gutted," said Howell.
"But, today, I'm not . . . I'm proud of myself for the way that I drove the ball. I'm much more positive than I was a week ago."
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