The DP World Tour returns to Wales this week as the Twenty Ten Course at The Celtic Manor Resort plays host to the 2022 Cazoo Open supported by Gareth Bale. Here are your five things to know.
Elvira looks to defend title
Nacho Elvira was left speechless after he secured his first victory on the DP World Tour at the end of a dramatic final round last year. Having earlier squandered a six-shot overnight lead, the Spaniard three-putted the last from 18 feet before he recovered his composure to defeat South Africa’s Justin Harding in a play-off to complete a wire-to-wire victory. A four-time winner on the European Challenge Tour, he arrived in South Wales without a top ten for over two years but left a champion for the first time on Tour at the 195th attempt. "That’s what we practise for and what we strive for. We try to win, to be at the best level on the (DP World) Tour and play with the best. It means the world to me." Since then, Elvira has registered three top-20 finishes so far this season, with his best result a tie for sixth at the MyGolfLife Open hosted by Pecanwood in March.
700 and counting for Howell
Five-time DP World Tour winner David Howell celebrates a milestone 700th Tour appearance this week in Wales. Also a member of the successful European Ryder Cup teams in 2004 and 2006, 47-year-old Howell is competing in his 27th consecutive season as a Tour professional. Notable victories at the inaugural HSBC Champions in 2005, when he held off Tiger Woods, and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth a year later helped him rise to a career-high ninth in the Official World Golf Ranking. The Englishman played in his first Tour event in 1994 and almost three decades later is set to become just the third player to reach the 700 mark. For many years, Sam Torrance held the record for most Tour appearances with 706, before Spaniard Miguel Ángel Jiménez surpassed the Scot’s haul at the 2020 Hero Open.
Open Championship Silver Medallist in the field
A few weeks on from winning the Silver Medal at The 150th Open Championship, Filippo Celli returns to the United Kingdom to take his place alongside leading professionals of the Tour at Celtic Manor. The Italian finished golf’s oldest Major Championship at St Andrews with a final score of five under par as he emulated countryman Matteo Manassero, who finished as the leading amateur in 2009. Celli, who is ranked 57th in the men’s amateur rankings, won the European Amateur Championship in Spain earlier this year, a title formerly won by four-time Major winner and former World Number One Rory McIlroy.
Football superstar Bale lends support again
Wales football captain Gareth Bale will for the second year running support the Cazoo Open, with Wales’ national open returning to The Twenty Ten Course as the fifth event of a four-week UK swing on the DP World Tour. Bale, who is set to lead his country at the World Cup later this year, is an avid golf fan and earlier this year was announced as a Global Ambassador for The R&A in support of its activities to inspire new audiences around the world into playing golf. “Last year’s tournament was a really exciting boost for Welsh golf and this year will be even better,” said the 33-year-old. “The course is a great test for any golfer, and I am delighted as a fan to watch what promises to be four days of fantastic golf at a brilliant venue.”
Welsh golf greats flying the flag
Celtic Manor is a venue which will forever be fondly remembered after it hosted the Ryder Cup in 2010, won by Colin Montgomerie’s European team. Jamie Donaldson, who wrote his name in golfing folklore by securing the winning point in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, leads a contingent of Welsh players in this week’s field. In recognition of Royal Porthcawl Golf Club staging next year’s Senior Open Presented by Rolex, three-time Tour winners Stephen Dodd and Phillip Price have received tournament invites into their national Open. Dodd won The Senior Open Presented by Rolex in 2021, while Price has a place in Ryder Cup history as a member of Europe's winning team in 2002.
