| Tournament Name: | 2006 Welsh Open |
| Venue: | Newport Centre |
| Location: | Newport |
| Country: | Wales |
| Organisation: | WPBSA |
| Format: | Ranking event |
| Total Prize Fund: | £223,275 |
| Winners Share: | £35,000 |
| Highest Break: | (144) |
| Score: | 9–4 |
| Previous: | 2005 |
| Next: | 2007 |
The 2006 Welsh Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 27 February and 5 March at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales.
Ronnie O'Sullivan was the defending champion, but he lost his last 32 match against Ian McCulloch.
Stephen Lee won his fourth ranking title by defeating World Champion Shaun Murphy 9–4.
Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was the number 1 seed with World Champion Shaun Murphy seeded 2. The remaining places were allocated to players based on the world rankings.
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[1] Winner: £35,000
Runner Up: £17,500
Semi Finalist: £8,750
Quarter Finalist: £6,500
Last 16: £4,275
Last 32: £2,750
Last 48: £1,725
Last 64: £1,325
Stage two highest break: £2000
Stage two maximum break: £20,000
| Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Eirian Williams. Newport Centre, Newport, Wales, 5 March 2006. | |||
| Stephen Lee (11) | 9–4 | Shaun Murphy (2) | |
| Afternoon: 86–6, 74–0,,,,,, Evening: 88–0 (62), 39–64,,, | |||
| 120 | Highest break | 52 | |
| 1 | Century breaks | 0 | |
| 3 | 50+ breaks | 2 | |
Qualifying for the tournament took place at Pontin's in Prestatyn, Wales between 24 January and 26 January 2006.[3]