Dodd’s House party after play-off

THIRTY EIGHT year-old Stephen Dodd from Cardiff was crowned a worthy Nissan Irish Open champion at carton House last night.

But just about everybody’s heart went out to England’s David Howell, the loser in a play-off for the second successive week.

Howell was the first player to be involved in consecutive tournament play-offs since Trevor Immelman in 2003. So Howell, who showed nerves of steel in his Ryder Cup debut last September, succumbed once more when the serious questions were asked and can still look back to the 1999 Dubai Desert Classic for his only tournament win.