RYDER Cup captain Colin Montgomerie delivered an edict that he expects all his top stars to play in the Wales Open in June and it would appear those words are being heeded.

The Wales Open (3-6 June) represents a great chance to trial the 2010 Ryder Cup course and Mongomerie will be particularly thrilled at the first man to confirm his participation in the event.

England’s Luke Donald, a two-time European Tour tournament winner, is scheduled to take part in Newport, even though he is a regular on the PGA Tour in the US.

Donald has never played the Twenty Ten course and his presence indicates that Montgomerie will get his wish of having the best of the best in Europe looking to catch his eye.

Writing in his diary on www.golfmagic.com, Donald commented: “After the Players Championship, I’m going to play three weeks in Europe – at Wentworth, Madrid and The Celtic Manor for the Wales Open.

“So I’m hoping to catch up with family and friends. I haven’t played the Twenty Ten course at Celtic Manor yet so hopefully it will be good practice for the Ryder Cup because I’m determined to make the team again.”

Donald has represented Europe twice in the famous event, in 2004 and 2006. In 2006 he was one of Europe’s most valuable assets, beating Chad Campbell in the final day singles and ending with a maximum return of three points out of three.

However, Donald missed the 2008 Ryder Cup due to a wrist injury that has curtailed his career success in the past couple of years.

Donald’s third place at the Verizon Heritage Classic in North Carolina last week takes him up two spots to seventh on the European Ryder Cup world points list.

Only four of Colin Montgomerie’s side will come from that list, however, and Donald remains way down in 34th position on the European Tour list from which the remaining five automatic spots are awarded.

Meanwhile, Organisers of the Ryder Cup have reinforced the warning to all golf fans to be vigilant of unscrupulous agents offering forged or invalid entrance tickets for October’s match at Celtic Manor in Wales.

The second ballot for public match day tickets is now closed and every applicant is being informed of the result by e-mail.

Richard Hills, the European Ryder Cup director, said: “We need to make it clear to anyone intending to be at the 2010 Ryder Cup that tickets are only available through the official channels.

“Failure to comply with this warning could lead to fans being seriously overcharged for tickets which are simply not valid and unnecessary disappointment as those unwitting fans are turned away.

“We are receiving an increasing number of enquiries from members of the public who have paid for Ryder Cup tickets and hospitality through unofficial sources.

“In all cases the sums involved have been far in excess of the face value of the tickets and it would appear that the seller is unable to absolutely guarantee entry into the event.’’ In 2006 a number of companies contacted Ryder Cup Europe to enquire when their packages would be arriving, only for them to be informed that they had purchased non-existent inventory.

Ryder Cup Europe have been made aware of pirate hospitality agencies again offering illegal Ryder Cup packages and advises that the only companies officially appointed to service the contest are Keith Prowse, IMG Hospitality, the Mike Burton Group, CSL Hospitality (Ireland) and Ryder Cup Travel Services.

Hills added: “There are imposters out there prepared to try to cheat not only individual purchasers, but also companies.

“We want to protect all golf fans from being duped and we want to protect the good name that Wales has for hospitality.

“We urge everyone to check and double check before parting with their money as there appears to be an increasing number of operators seeking to sell tickets and hospitality packages through unauthorised and invalid channels."