Wales Open stats

A preview and stats for this week's European Tour event - the Wales Open at Celtic Manor.

Watch all four days of the tournament live on Sky Sports

The European Tour makes the short journey from Surrey to Newport for this week's Wales Open. First held in 2000, the tournament has been played over Celtic Manor's TwentyTen course since 2008 and two years later this spectacular venue hosted the Ryder Cup. The TwentyTen was built on the site of the original Wentwood Hills layout which staged the Wales Open for five successive years through to 2004. Nine of TwentyTen's holes were crafted from new while nine remained virtually the same - other than a few minor modifications. Water hazards come into play on 10 holes, and wind is often a factor on this relatively flat course that sits in the Usk Valley.

So who's teeing-up on Thursday?

Gregory Bourdy: Tied-second last year and one of the new breed of French golfers moving in the right direction on the European Tour. Stephen Gallacher: Now inside the world's top-100, the Scot has twice finished second during 2012 - in Dubai and Malaysia. Francesco Molinari: His highest finish at Celtic Manor is a tie-for-fourth in 2008. The consistent Italian rarely has a bad tournament and was a top-10 finisher at Wentworth on Sunday. Alexander Noren: The defending champion who has travelled quickly up the World Ranking during the past 12 months. The Swede is currently at No 81. Romain Wattel: A young Frenchman whose Tour results have shown great promise since earning his card 18 months ago. Is currently 54th in the Race to Dubai standings. Peter Whiteford: The Scotsman has hopefully recovered from his cruel luck in India during February when he was disqualified while leading the tournament. He tied-for-8th in Wales 12 months ago. SELECTED PLAYERS with GOOD to REASONABLE FORM at CELTIC MANOR Full History at TwentyTen Course (2008/11) Player: '08 / '09 / '10 / '11 Fredrik Andersson: 28 / 17 / MC / MC
Thomas Bjorn: 21 / 43 / 9 / MC
Gregory Bourdy: 21 / 10 / 39 / 2
Magnus A Carlsson: 21 / 31 / - / 8
Rhys Davies: MC / 17 / 2 / 58
Jamie Donaldson: 15 / MC / 46 / 8
Niclas Fasth: 67 / 2 / 9 / MC
Gonzalo F'dez-Castano: 9 / - / 12 / -
Raphael Jacquelin: 3 / MC / 20 / MC
Miguel Angel Jimenez: Ret / 17 / 8 / MC
Pablo Larrazabal: 15 / 26 / 56 / 4
Peter Lawrie: MC / 24 / 20 / -
David Lynn: 47 / 21 / 12 / MC
Richard McEvoy: - / - / 9 / 12
Damien McGrane: MC / MC / 20 / 28
Edoardo Molinari: 31 / - / 4 / -
Richie Ramsay: - / 10 / 27 / MC
Marcel Siem: 15 / 43 / 7 / 30
Jeev Milkha Singh: 10 / 6 / - / MC
Peter Whiteford: 47 / MC / 20 / 8
Fabrizio Zanotti: MC / 10 / MC / 15 SELECTED PLAYERS with POOR to MEDICORE FORM at CELTIC MANOR Full History at TwentyTen Course (2008/11) (No Top-40 Finishes from three or more starts) Player: '08 / '09 / '10 / '11 Rafael Cabrera-Bello: 70 / MC / MC / 41
Michael Campbell: - / MC / MC / MC
Alejandro Canizares: MC / MC / - / MC
Stephen Dodd: MC / 49 / Wd / Wd
Pelle Edberg: MC / MC / MC / -
Kenneth Ferrie: - / MC / MC / 61
Marcus Fraser: - / 43 / MC / MC
Gregory Havret: MC / MC / MC / Wd
Peter Hedblom: MC / 59 / 63 / -
Michael Jonzon: - / MC / MC / 45
Paul Lawrie: MC / Wd / MC / MC
Pablo Martin: Ret / Wd / 46 / Ret
Steven O'Hara: - / MC / MC / MC
Brett Rumford: - / MC / Ret / MC
Anthony Wall: MC / MC / Ret / MC
Oliver Wilson: MC / - / 66 / MC TOP-10 FINISHERS from 2011 (not already mentioned) Alexander Noren: (Won)
Anders Hansen: (T-2nd)
Johan Edfors: (T-4th)
Ricardo Gonzalez: (T-4th)
Joel Sjoholm: (T-8th) LOWEST 12 STROKE AVERAGES at TWENTYTEN (Full History) Average (Rounds) 69.00: Gonzalo F'dez-Castano (8)
69.00: Edoardo Molinari (8)
69.88: Gregory Bourdy (16)
69.90: Jeev Milkha Singh (10)
70.00: Richard McEvoy (8)
70.08: Magnus A Carlsson (12)
70.31: Pablo Larrazabal (16)
70.31: Marcel Siem (16)
70.40: Miguel Angel Jimenez (10)
70.42: Raphael Jacquelin (12)
70.50: Thomas Bjorn (14)
70.57: Peter Whiteford (14) (Min. No. of Rounds = 8) LOWEST ROUNDS over CELTIC MANOR's TWENTYTEN layout 62: Rhys Davies (2010)
63: Scott Strange (2008)
63: Stephen Gallacher (2010)
63: Marc Warren (2010)
63: Graeme McDowell (2010)
64: Seven times TwentyTen: Par 71; 7,378 yards Winning Totals (Last Three Years): 2011 - 275 (Alexander Noren)
2010 - 269 (Graeme McDowell)
2009 - 275 (Jeppe Huldahl)