Dodd Leads Bid For First Welsh Winner Of The Celtic Manor Wales Open
Dodd collected his biggest pay day since winning the Smurfit Kappa European Open in 2006 when he finished fourth at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club on Sunday.
From June 4-7, the Barry golfer will set his sights on converting that form, which also includes three more top 15 finishes this year, into his first victory for three seasons and the first ever for a Welshman in The Celtic Manor Wales Open as the tournament celebrates its 10th staging.
Dodd won three titles in two seasons after making his long-awaited breakthrough at the 2005 Volvo China Open but his €225,000 for fourth place at Wentworth Club was equal to his entire tournament earnings for 2007 and 2008. It lifted him more than 200 places in the world rankings and back inside the world’s top 250, having started the year down in 936th place.
Bradley Dredge, who won the World Cup for Wales with Dodd in 2005, is the Welshman who has come closest to claiming the elusive trophy on home soil. Leading by a shot on the final tee in 2007, Dredge lost out by a single stroke as South Africa’s Richard Sterne made a brilliant birdie on the last while he could only make bogey.
Hovering around the world’s top 50 at the time, Dredge has also suffered a couple of lean seasons since but he will seek to rekindle ambitions of providing a Welsh player at next year’s Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor when he tees up on The Twenty Ten Course next Thursday.
The Welsh player with the most local knowledge will be Celtic Manor member Phil Price, a man who tasted Ryder Cup success in 2002, while Jamie Donaldson and Stuart Manley complete the European Tour regulars from Wales in the starting field. They will be joined by a quartet of Welsh sponsor’s invites in Rhys Davies, Kyron Sullivan, Garry Houston and Craig Smith.
They will all face stiff competition from Europe’s reigning No 1 golfer Robert Karlsson and fellow former Celtic Manor Wales Open champions, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Paul McGinley, Paul Lawrie, Simon Khan and last year’s impressive winner Scott Strange.
The tournament will also be illuminated by the presence of both Ryder Cup captains, Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin, who will go head to head on a golf course for the first time since their respective appointments over the winter.
Dylan Matthews, Chief Executive of The Celtic Manor Resort, said: “It’s great to see so many Welsh professionals playing in The Celtic Manor Wales Open and joining a star-studded international field. I’m sure they can count on some fantastic home support from the galleries.
“It would be great to crown a first Welsh winner of the event in our 10th year after seeing some thrilling performances from Ian Woosnam, Phil Price and Bradley Dredge come up just short over the past decade.”
Ryder Cup stars Thomas Bjorn, David Howell, Niclas Fasth, Oliver Wilson and Soren Hansen are also included in the field along with many more players who will be hoping to break into the European team at Celtic Manor in 2010. They include England’s Nick Dougherty and Ross Fisher, Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Volvo Masters champion Soren Kjeldsen from Denmark.
With children under 16 enjoying free entry if accompanied by an adult, The Celtic Manor Wales Open offers a great family day out with the opportunity for youngsters to take their first swings at the game under the supervision of Golf Development Wales. Tickets can be purchased on the gate for all four days of the tournament.
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