SIR Terry Matthews has outlined bold plans to attract the top American players to the Wales Open by 2006, turning the tournament into a European Tour showcase.

The announcement came on the day building work began at the Celtic Manor on NINE new holes - being created specifically for the 2010 Ryder Cup.

A complete overhaul of the Wentwood Hills course is now under way and the nine new championship holes will make the course one of the longest in Ryder Cup history at 7,516 yards.

The Ryder Cup is expected to attract a minimum of 50,000 spectators a day and a series of course modifications have also been outlined, including a new clubhouse and increased walkways for spectators. There will also be substantial development of the hotel.

The building work will be completed in 2006 and the Wentwood Hills course will then stage that year's Wales Open, as well as the Junior Ryder Cup in September. Meanwhile, the Wales Open will be held on the Roman Road course, also at the Celtic Manor.

Sir Terry said he expected the Celtic Manor Resort to be familiar to all the players, including the Americans, by the time the Ryder Cup is staged.

He told the Argus: "The top American players will want to come over and play the course, they will want to have played it and got a feel for it and my anticipation is that they will do this at the 2006 Wales Open.

"We spent a lot of time optimising the course and shaping it with the Ryder Cup in mind, because it is a large spectator event and we've made it more like an arena to help every visitor get a good view.

"It is like the situation in Athens when they built new arenas for the Olympics. Why did they build special arenas when they already had some? Because it needed special arenas, because it is a huge event and the Ryder Cup is the same thing. We have a specifically designed course and a specifically designed clubhouse because we need to create a worldwide image. This event in Newport will be watched by a worldwide audience and we have to get it right."

The new holes at Wentwood Hills are one to five, 14, 16, 17 and 18. They are designed by Robert Trent Jones who also designed the rest of the Celtic Manor courses and Oakland Hills, where the last Ryder Cup was played.

Celtic Manor chairman Andy Stanton said: "From a spectator point of view Oakland Hills was not very good. We learnt from that and are building some fantastic holes that will be easy to view."