This year's Celtic Manor Wales Open saw some great golf including record breaking scores on the Roman Road course.
Four players hit superb rounds of 63 to create a new record on day one of the tournament - Miguel Angel Jimenez, David Lynn, James Heath and Beriot Teilleria. As if this was not enough, on the very next day Alessandro Tadini, of Italy, went one better and shot a magnificent 62 to establish a brand new course record.
Many people had been predicting very low scores, maybe even a 59 but the Roman Road course was undoubtedly well defended. The wind blew, it rained in intermittent squalls and 62 was to remain the low score of the tournament although the record was not to be Tadini's alone.
This was not a great event for Welsh golfers, however. Steve Dodd, Stuart Manley and Gary Houston all missed the cut, along with notable names like Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie.
That left just four Welshmen in the hunt for the final two days - David Park, Jamie Donaldson, Bradley Dredge and Ian Woosnam. Dredge and Donaldson threatened briefly but fell away on the final day, Jamie finishing on two over par, Bradley on level par. Park was never really in the hunt, finishing the tournament on three over.
That left just Woosie, the great Welsh hope. Struggling all week with an errant putter he started the final day on seven under, just one shot behind the leader Alessandro Tadini. He birdied the first, chipping in, but then failed to make ground. Ironically, he chipped in on the last to save his par and finish the tournament on eight under, six shots behind the winner.
The tournament was eventually claimed by Miguel Angel Jimenez, whose closing burst over the last six holes left him four clear of the pack. It was a great victory for the Spaniard, his closing thrust being superbly timed. It gave him a final round of 62, thus equalling Tadini's course record.
The Roman Road course proved an excellent test of golf for the players, making the 2005 Wales Open another highly successful tournament.
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