Welsh dragons Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge grabbed World Cup victory in storm-lashed Portugal - without hitting a shot.

Typhoon-style conditions washed out the final day’s play at the Victoria Club near Vilamora and with more heavy rain forecast for today, the result after 54 holes was declared final.

Wales took a two-stroke victory over England’s Luke Donald and David Howell, and Sweden’s Niclas Fasth and Henrik Stenson.

The pair finished on 27 under par, sandwiching a five under par 67 in the foursomes between a pair of impressive 61s in the first and third round fourballs.

Ian Woosnam and David Llewellyn notched Wales’s first World Cup win after a play-off with Scotland’s Sandy Lyle and Sam Torrance in Hawaii in 1987.

And Dredge was proud to follow in their footsteps.

He beamed: “For Stephen and I to repeat what Ian Woosnam and David Llewellyn did is obviously huge for us and for golf in Wales. It’s fantastic.

'We played some really good golf for three days. We were ready to go out there again and put a good score together and try and finish off.

“You would rather come out on a nice sunny day and finish it off in style. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t allow us to do that, so we’ll take it.”

Dodd added: “It’s a great achievement for us. It would have been nice to play 72, but at the end of the day, a win is a win, whether it’s 54 or not.”

 

 

The pair walked away with their biggest ever cheques - €600,000 each - to top of their best ever seasons in golf.

Dodd, 39, won the Volvo China Open 12 months ago and then beat David Howell in sudden death to take Nissan Irish Open title in May.

And Dredge, 32, has also his best season since he turned professional with two second places and six other top ten finishes.

The key to their victory came towards the end of their third round when Dredge holed a 20 footer for an eagle two at the driveable 15th to put them one stroke clear of England and Sweden.

Dredge then found water that the par five 17th but Dodd hit the green in two and two-putted for their 26th birdie of the week and a two stroke lead.

Dodd then finished the job with a solid par four at the last after Dredge had hit his approach into a greenside lake.

The tournament was perfectly poised entering the final day’s foursomes with Wales two clear of England and Sweden, with France five behind.

Defending champions England were disappointed not to get the chance to battle it out for the title in the fourth round.

Donald groaned: “Obviously I’m a bit disappointed. But I’m happy for Wales, they played great. 

“We would have loved to have gone out there and played 72 holes. We didn’t come here to finish second but you can’t control the weather, unfortunately.

“It’s disappointing, but that is the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.”

Playing partner Howell echoed Donald’s disappointment, but paid tribute to Wales.

He said: “Who knows what would have happened. Two shots, foursomes, obviously the swing is out there.

“But the weather was disastrous today. If we get up tomorrow and they have the forecast wrong, that’s the only worry you might have.

“But Wales, they obviously played fantastic and they kept going strong yesterday. Like Luke said, if you are in the lead, obviously you would want to go out and win over 72 holes as well, but if you are in the lead it feels like the right and correct decision.”