Dodd wins Irish Open play-off

The eighth play-off in this event since 1972, the most in any PGA European Tour event, ended at the first sudden-death hole when Welshman Dodd calmly holed out for a birdie four at the par-five 513-yard 18th.

Both men had finished nine under par for the rain-interrupted 72 holes (279).

It was Dodd's third birdie at the final hole of the week - he could only muster par in the third round - and won the 38-year-old �228,900 to go with his season-opening victory in the Volvo China Open.

He now lies fourth in the Tour's Order of Merit.

A glance at the official Reuters Stats, though, shows that Dodd was always going to have the edge over Howell at a hole which personified Colin Montgomerie's layout in County Kildare, demanding precision from tee to pin.

Dodd's narrow failure to hit the fairway at the first extra hole was rare. In total, he had a success rate of nearly two out of every three (64.3%) fairways hit, or 36 out of 56, to rank 11th in the tournament Stats standings for this category.

Montgomerie finished tied for 28th on the course he designed

In contrast, Howell, could only muster 21 fairways hit (37.5%) and even though he managed to find the fairway at the sudden-death hole, it left him needing to draw his approach round a large tree on to the green.

Instead, it went straight into thick rough.

The Welshman also had the edge in course management with his irons and fairway woods.

He hit 51 greens in regulation (70.8%), the seventh-best in the field. Howell mustered six less (62.5%) and ranked 34th.

Howell, who also finished runner-up last week in the Daily Telegraph Dunlop Masters at the Forest of Arden, badly needs to work on his driving accuracy.

So far this season, he has hit only 55.7% of fairways, or an average of 7.8 a round, to rank 114th best on the Tour.

That is comfortably his worst rating since the Stats were first recorded in 1998, comparing, for example, with a return of 64.7% seven years ago.

The Englishman has scrambled magnificently, though, and has a rating of 66.7% greens hit in regulation figures, his second-best return in this area behind 68.3% two years ago.