Miguel Angel Jiménez is well used to seeing his name sitting proudly in the European Tour record books and the charismatic Spaniard has a chance to carve another niche for himself in the annals this week when he defends his title in The Celtic Manor Wales Open.
No-one in the short, but already illustrious history of the tournament has won in successive years but Jiménez will have the chance to do just that following his impressive victory at the Newport venue 12 months ago.
Then, the 42 year old flew out of the traps on the Roman Road course to share the lead after an opening 63. But if that was impressive, his course record equalling closing round of seven under par 62 was simply stunning to give him a 14 under par total of 262 and victory by four shots over his fellow countryman José Manuel Lara and Martin Erlandsson of Sweden.
“Last year was my first visit to The Celtic Manor Resort and I was very impressed by the wonderful facilities there and loved every minute of the tournament,” he said.
“I knew that the Roman Road course would present a tough challenge so I was delighted to win by four shots having teed off on the final day in second place and dropping a shot at the second.
“This year my aim is to put in another strong challenge on what is a tough golf course. It will be difficult because the tournament will once again attract a high quality field.”
Emphasising that point and headlining a stellar field are the current US Open Champion Michael Campbell – playing his last event in Europe before he heads to Winged Foot Golf Club in New York State for his title defence – and the eight time European Tour Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie.
Campbell, who finished in a tie for 15th place last year, said: “I have always felt at home at Celtic Manor and I’m looking forward to returning to Wales. It is definitely one of the leading tournaments on The European Tour and I really enjoyed the challenge of the Roman Road course last year, as well as experiencing the impressive facilities the resort has to offer.”
Montgomerie, who has won almost every honour in the game, will be keen to put right one of the only gaps in his golfing CV, namely that he has never won a golf tournament in Wales.
"I’ve always enjoyed my visits to The Celtic Manor Resort,” he said. “The facilities are superb and the developments that I’ve seen over past couple of years there auger well for The Ryder Cup in 2010.
"With this year’s Ryder Cup not too far away there are a lot of players on Tour who will be trying to put in strong performances at tournaments like The Celtic Manor Wales Open in order to be in with a chance of a berth at The K Club.”
Mention of The Ryder Cup is appropriate as the Roman Road course will be used again this year for the second time while work – which began in 2004 - continues on the Wentwood Hills course, the venue for The 2010 Ryder Cup.
The Robert Trent Jones Snr-designed Roman Road course is some 600 yards shorter than its younger brother and will play to a par 69, presenting a tough challenge for the 156 players in the field. Penal rough and demanding greens will again be its main defence.
