Dramatic finish at Harlech

Stephen Dodd came out on top in the battle of the Tour heavyweights at Royal St David’s to claim his fifth Welsh National PGA Championship.

Dodd saw off the challenge of Garry Houston in a play-off for the title after the duo were locked at four-under-par at the top of the leaderboard after two days of intense golf at the testing Welsh course.

Houston carded a best of the day three-under 66 to add to his opening day 68 and was then forced

to watch as Dodd – and fellow contender Jon Bevan of Rhos on Sea – came down the last with a chance to either win the title outright or take it to ‘extra time’.

Bevan could not covert his birdie chance to move to four-under, which left him having to settle for third spot in the Asbri Golf supported tournament.

Dodd also walked off with a par, leaving the two former European Tour mates to tackle the par-three 18^th again.

Both landed on the green, with Dodd in the driving seat landing 20 foot from the hole, while Houston faced a monster 60-foot putt.

Houston came within an inch of holing his putt. Dodd made no mistake to claim the crown and a share of the £10,000 prize fund, as he added to his titles in 2011, 2007, 2001 and 1995.

“It was tense going back out there, and I was relieved to hole my putt to get the win,” said Dodd, who moved to within one of Sid Mouland’s six national titles.

“I just hit a nice seven iron and holed the putt from about 20 feet, thankfully! It was really nice to see it drop in.

“It would be nice to match Sid's record and obviously I am very happy to have won this five times now, it’s a great tournament and I enjoy playing it.

“I will be back next year to play again – I’d love to go out there and try to win it again.”

Houston, who has never won the title, admitted that losing to Dodd was not that hard a pill to swallow – although he knew the title had been in his grasp.

“I was on game all day pretty much until a slack bogey on 15, missed a shortish putt for birdie at 16 and gave myself chances at 17 and 18 but never took them,” said the 42-year-old.

“I was kind of aware that Stephen and Jon were around four and five-under so I knew I needed to get back to five-under but little did I know that five-under would have been enough but I played well so I can’t complain.

“Dodd’s a very good friend of mine so I’m not overly perturbed coming runner-up to him it just unfortunate that 60 footer on the last didn’t have another roll on it.

“I love coming here and I always play this course well. It’s just a great course. I won the Welsh PGA here in 08 and gave it a good crack. I was third here last year, second this year maybe next year who knows.”

Former Newport Golf Club pro Paul Mayo, who famously played alongside Jack Nicklaus at The Masters and The Open, claimed the senior title after finishing six-over for his two rounds.

Sponsor Paul Williams gives his verdict on the 2014 Welsh National.