Look up the definition of a journeyman golfer and you'll likely find a picture of Trevor Dodds.
Four times during a nine-year period from 1984-92, Dodds made the PGA Tour, only to return to qualifying school after failing miserably to make a living at the game he loves.Despite the setbacks, he forged on.
"I kept getting my card and I wouldn't perform up to my expectations or anybody's expectations. But I just felt like you've got to have the tenacity and the perseverance to keep going," Dodds said Sunday following his first tour win, a playoff victory over Scott Verplank in the $2.2 million Greater Greensboro Chrysler Clas-sic.
"I just wasn't prepared to let the dream go. It has paid off."
Dodds, 38, a former college All-American at Lamar who battled testicular cancer last season while playing the Nike Tour, became the 15th different winner this season in as many PGA Tour events.
On the par-72, 7,062-yard Forest Oaks Country Club course, the sun was shining and temperatures were in the 80s. But a tricky wind gusting to 25 mph frustrated player after player down the stretch.
Dodds, who shot a final-round 69 for a 12-under 276 total, trailed by two shots as he stood on the 18th tee. He almost holed his approach shot and birdied one of the course's toughest holes for the fourth straight day to move one behind leader Bob Estes at the time.
Estes, playing two groups behind Dodds, then missed two par-saving 5-footers on the final two holes, the last devastating bogey lipping out on the right side of the hole with Verplank, one shot back, waiting patiently in the 18th fairway.
Estes, one of the game's best putters, led by two shots after birdies at Nos. 10 and 11, but missed four of his last seven greens in regulation to finish with a closing-round 73.
With Dodds on the practice range keeping loose, Verplank put his approach shot within 30 feet on No. 18 and then made the dramatic putt to force the playoff, finishing with a 72.
Verplank was first off the 18th tee, but his drive found the deep right rough while Dodds split the fairway and had a 150-yard approach shot to a hole he had huge success on this week.
Verplank was only able to move his approach shot within 60 yards of the green, and he would two-putt for a bogey. Dodds' approach shot was within 8 feet, and he two-putted to claim the $396,000 top prize.
LAS VEGAS SENIOR CLASSIC: At Las Vegas, Hale Irwin, coming off a seven-stroke victory in the PGA Seniors' Championship, shot a 3-over 75 on Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Vincente Fernandez in the Las Vegas Senior Classic.
Irwin, also the 1997 winner, had a 6-under 281 total and earned $210,000 to take the money lead with $950,650. He has three victories this season and 16 in 65 senior starts.
LPGA CHICK-FIL-A: At Stockbridge, Ga., Sweden's Liselotte Neumann won her second LPGA tour title of the year, closing with a 2-under 70 on Sunday for a three-stroke victory in the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship.
Neumann, who also won the Standard Register Ping, had a 14-under 202 and earned $105,000 to push her tour-leading total to $419,776.
SPANISH OPEN: At Barcelona, Spain, Denmark's Thomas Bjorn shot a 6-under 66 on Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal and Australia's Greg Chalmers in the Spanish Open.