Dodds win reward for a survivor

When Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington captured the World Cup for Ireland at Kiawah Island last November, the modest progress of the Namibia team to an eventual 25th place prompted little attention. But the better half of that duo, Trevor Dodds, gained a remarkable victory on Sunday in the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic.

Born in Windhoek in the former South-West Africa on September 26th, 1959, Dodds left it late to achieve a breakthrough victory on the USPGA Tour. He did it in style, however, by beating Scott Verplank with a comfortable par on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off.

"What a thrill this is," said the delighted 38-year-old who had a winning aggregate of 276 after a final round of 69. "Last year was a roller-coaster year for me and my blessings are so many that I can't count them."

Indeed, his wildly fluctuating fortunes were largely compressed into a few weeks last June. After shooting a tournament record 262 - 22 under par - for a six-stroke victory and top prize of $36,000 in the Nike Miami Valley Open on June 15th, his 16-month-old daughter, Audrey, ran on to the 18th green to help him celebrate.

Then, a week later, he earned $13,166 for a share of third place in the Nike Cleveland Open. But on returning to his home in St Louis, Missouri before the end of the month, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and had to undergo surgery and radiation treatment.

"It seems only a short time ago that I thought I'd never play golf again," he said on Sunday. "I'll never forget this day."

Still, he missed only five tournaments before returning to the Nike Tour. And he went on to finish the season at fifth on the money list ($130,983), so earning a place on the regular USPGA Tour. In fact he had previously been through the qualifying school on four occasions and had never succeeded in retaining his card.

Now, he gets an automatic two-year exemption along with the bonus of invitations to the World Series and next year's Mercedes Championship and US Masters. And the winner's cheque for $396,000 was comfortably the biggest of his career.

In the process, Dodds has followed a proud tradition of international players in an event that was won a record eight times by the great Sam Snead. Greensboro gave Seve Ballesteros his first US victory in 1978. Sandy Lyle won it in 1986 and again in 1988; Australia's Steve Elkington was victorious there in 1990 and another antipodean, Frank Nobilo, captured the trophy last year. A relative latecomer to professional ranks, this was Dodds's 11th tournament victory. Though he won the South African Open in 1990, his most important successes prior to last weekend were on the Canadian circuit where he led the order of merit in 1996 after four victories there, including the Canadian Masters.

His success on Sunday owed much to the fact that he birdied the 18th hole in each of the four rounds. Bob Estes, joint leader overnight, looked set for victory before carding bogeys at the 71st and 72nd, three-putting the last hole from 18 feet. Then Verplank got into a play-off with Dodds by running a firm, 18-footer into the final hole for a birdie.

Down the 18th again in the play-off, Verplank, who underwent surgery on both elbows in recent years, blocked his drive into heavy rough on the right and took three to reach the green. Dodds had a simple, two-putt par from eight feet for the title.

Greater Greensboro Classic (US unless stated): 276 - T Dodds (Nam) 68 69 70 69, S Verplank 67 71 66 72 (Dodds won play-off with par at first extra hole). 277 - B Estes 67 65 72 73. 278 - N Lancaster 70 67 70 71. 279 - F Nobilo (NZ) 71 65 71 72. 280 - P Mickelson 74 65 71 70, F Funk 72 69 67 72. 281 - M Bradley 69 71 72 69, L Clements 68 68 72 73, H Sutton 65 67 74 75. 282 - J Furyk 70 67 73 72, D Hart 68 68 74 72, J Kelly 70 68 68 76, T Tryba 71 67 67 77, S Kendall 68 73 63 78. 283 - J Estes 70 70 75 68, M Hulbert 69 73 72 69, H Frazer 71 71 71 70, C Dennis 69 70 73 71, J Maggert 71 69 71 72, T Herron 71 69 71 72, J Maginnes 68 72 70 73. Selected scores: 284 - S Appleby (Aus) 70 69 70 75. 285 - S Elkington (Aus) 71 71 67 76, D Frost (SA) 66 75 68 76, S Ames (Tri) 71 70 66 78. 288 - G Hnatiuk (Can) 69 73 72 74, G Hjertstedt (Sweden) 70 70 71 77. 289 - R Coughlan (Ire) 74 68 73 74, F Allem (SA) 69 74 69 77. 290 - P O'Malley (Aus) 70 72 73 75.