CELTIC Manor Wales Open champion Miguel Angel Jimenez will be back to defend his crown in 2006, but several problems will have to be ironed out before the field for next year's event is chosen.

Jimenez's late charge on the back-nine on Sunday spared the Wales Open from being won by an 'unknown' for the first time since 1999, when Steen Tinning took the crown at the inaugural tourney.

Last year's winner, former Essex cabbie Simon Khan, was certainly far from being a household name, but he did shoot 61 (on a par 72) before overcoming Paul Casey in a nail-biting play-off, the credentials of a true champion.

In any other European Tour event, having a winner such as Allesandro Tadini or Oliver Wilson would not be an issue (after all, the underdog achieving triumph is one of the most endearing aspects of competitive sport), but with the Celtic Manor Wales Open, an unknown winner would have made something of a mockery of the invitation policy currently employed by the organisers.

With a total purse of £1.5 million, the Wales Open is one of the more financially rewarding tour events and, as such, strives to attract the top names on the European circuit.

In the past, the likes of Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Lee Westwood and Phillip Price have participated at the Manor, although this year they all instead opted to play in Ohio at the PGA Memorial event.

While this problem is unavoidable (due to the European Tour scheduling), the policy of paying high appearance fees to ensure top names (regardless of form or desire to compete), seems to be back-firing.

Colin Montgomerie is being paid an estimated £1million over five years to play at the Wales Open and in his three appearances so far, the seven times Order of Merit winner has missed the cut twice.

Throughout his time at the Celtic Manor last weekend, Montgomerie was at pains to point out to the press that he was tired and only competing because he 'had to be here'.

Surely, with the Wales Open now a legitimate draw in its own right, less money will be spent in 2006 on ensuring big names compete because of the money on offer -remember Thomas Bjorn and Nick Faldo both also missed the cut.

The second bone of contention that must be addressed before next year is the lack of Welsh golfers at the event - there were only around 10 in this year's field.

Of the seven invitations the sponsors sent out, only two were for Welsh golfers and only Kyron Sullivan was representing the Challenge Tour.

Sullivan explained: "I was just a bit annoyed that of the seven players who won invites, only two of them were Welsh. Every other country the tour goes to, the sponsor's invites are to players of that nationality. It's not just about me. I thought Welsh Challenge Tour players like Sion Bebb, Mark Mouland and Mark Pilkington should have been playing here. I think the invites should go to Welsh players who are out there trying to win their tour card week in, week out."

Invitations to this year's tournament included ones to Celtic Manor professional Chris Baron and young English rookie James Heath, who admitted that it took a call from Nick Faldo to get him his invitation.

"A call from Nick Faldo can go a long way," he said.