Colin Montgomerie has backed the Celtic Manor improvements

The 2005 European Tour Order of Merit champion will play in the �1.5m event for the fourth successive year.

He joins defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez in declaring his intent to tackle the Roman Road course again, which will host the 2010 Ryder Cup.

"The facilities are superb and the developments auger well for the Ryder Cup in 2010," Montgomerie said.

The Scotsman is a contender for the captaincy of the European team in 2010, but is busy accumulating points to guarantee a playing berth for this year's clash with the Americans at the K Club in Dublin.

But Montgomerie will want to improve on last year's performance at the Celtic Manor where he missed the cut.

"With this year's Ryder Cup not too far away there are a lot of players on Tour who will be trying to put in strong performances at tournaments like the Wales Open in order to be in with a chance of a berth at the K Club," he added.

"Although I've had some fantastic results over the past year and this has taken me to the top of the European points list, I know that I have to keep performing to guarantee my position."

Reigning US Open champion Michael Campbell has also confirmed he will return this year.