Colin Montgomerie, the seven-time Volvo Order of Merit winner, makes his debut in The Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open at The Celtic Manor Resort this week. The Scot plays the Wentwood Hills course for the first time in the company of two past champions of the £1.5 million tournament in Paul McGinley and Steen Tinning.
Montgomerie, 39, has recorded 35 tournament victories around the world and earned more prize money than any British golfer in history. Turning professional in 1987, he won his first European Tour title at the 1989 Portuguese Open and became Europe's Number One in 1993 - a position he retained for an unprecedented run of seven years.
He said: "I am really looking forward to playing in The Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open for the first time. I think it will be great preparation for the US Open Championship."
The prize fund is double the prize money of the inaugural Wales Open in 2000. For the first time, the event is being held early in the season, two weeks before the US Open Championship, in one of the premier slots in the 2003 season.
The £400,000 increase in prize money will further enhance the prestige of the tournament said The Celtic Manor Resort Chairman, Sir Terence Matthews, said: "We're working closely with the European Tour to make the Wales Open better every year."
Tinning claimed his first victory on The European Tour International Schedule in 2000 while McGinley's play-off success 12 months later sealed his berth Europe's Ryder Cup Team and paved the way for that momentous occasion at The De Vere Belfry when the Irishman sank the winning putt against the United States.
Seven of this season's winners on The European Tour International Schedule have entered an event which continues to grow in stature with each passing season -Arjun Atwal, Robert-Jan Derksen, Bradley Dredge, Kenneth Ferrie, Darren Fichardt, Mathias Grönberg and Fredrik Jacobson.
The Welsh contingent will feature Dredge, the top Welshman in the Volvo Order of Merit, David Park, Phillip Price and Ian Woosnam.
Dredge, from Cardiff, has been in great form in the weeks leading up to The Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open. Having secured his maiden European Tour victory at the Madeira Island Open, a runner's-up finish at the Algarve Open de Portugal and his recent victory at the Pro Tour tournament under his belt, he will be looking for a second European Tour win.
He is currently 22nd in the Volvo Order of Merit and 55th in the World Rankings. A good performance at The Celtic Manor Resort could lift him into the top 50.
Price, from Newport, was one of last year's Ryder Cup heroes, beating the then World Number Two Phil Mickelson in the singles matches to claim a point for the European Team. Park, meanwhile, promotes the virtues of the tournament around the world as a form of 'roving ambassador' for The Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open.
