Ian Woosnam seeks a hat-trick of European Tour titles in his native country when the European Tour returns to Wales for the first time since 1991 this week with the inaugural edition of the £750,000 Wales Open at the spectacular Wentwood Hills course at Celtic Manor Resort near Newport.
The 42-year-old from Oswestry won the second of his 28 Tour titles at St.Pierre, Chepstow, in 1983 when he captured the British Masters and collected another on home soil by winning the Epson Grand Prix at the same venue in 1990.
Now Woosnam heads a high quality field for the first year of an initial three-year contract for The Wales Open at the luxurious new resort, which incorporates three courses and a 400-room luxury hotel.
Wales has been starved of top class European Tour golf since the sixth and last Epson Grand Prix at St.Pierre, won by José Maria Olazábal in 1991. However, the completion of the £8 million Robert Trent Jones course, stretching to 7,403 yards alongside the River Usk, has created a wonderful venue for the first Wales Open.
Woosnam and Mark James officially opened the new course in May last year, when the vision and dedication of Terry Matthews - the Canada-based entrepreneur who invested £100 million in the project - was finally realised.
James, the 1999 Ryder Cup captain, has also been a winner in Wales. In 1979 he beat Eddie Polland and Mike Miller to win the first Welsh Golf Classic at Wenvoe Castle. The three subsequent winners of that tournament - Sandy Lyle, Des Smyth and Gordon Brand Jnr - are in the field this week along with Seve Ballesteros, another British Masters winner at St.Pierre.
James was impressed by the new Wentwood Hills course and said: "It's probably the best new course I've ever seen. I love the way it winds round the bottom of the Usk Valley and then gradually works its way back up to the 18th. It's a long, tough test. I was fortunate to be the first winner of the Welsh Golf Classic at Wenvoe Castle back in 1979 so it's great to see Wales back on the European Tour schedule."
Sam Torrance, the man who succeeded James for the 2001 Ryder Cup match, commented: "I'm looking forward to the fresh challenge of the Wales Open. I know a tremendous job has been done to make this one of the best events on the Tour."
Newport's favourite son, Phillip Price, is also competing on his own doorstep, aiming to sustain an already superb season on the European Tour. He pointed out: "The Open is great for Wales because we haven't had a tournament of such quality here for nine years."
Also in action this week are 2000 European Tour winners Wei-Tze Yeh, Anthony Wall, Lucas Parsons, Gary Orr, Rolf Muntz, Roger Chapman, Jamie Spence and Brian Davis.
