Shane Lowry leads the Irish challenge heading into this week's Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, which starts on Thursday at Galgorm Castle.
The rescheduled event was moved north of the border as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, as the European Tour originally planned to stage the Irish Open in May.
That was meant to be part of the prestigious Rolex Series to be held at the revamped Mount Julliet in County Kilkenny, but now the Irish Open is back on the schedule as a result of the Ryder Cup being postponed.
The County Antrim event does not bring the Rolex tag with it as those specific high-profile tournaments guarantee a purse of $7million (€5.93m).
The purse this week is small by comparison with just €1.25million on offer, and as a result the field will not command as many big names as in recent years.
Already ruled out are star local attractions Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, who have opted not to travel over safety concerns, however, the inclusion of reigning Open champion Lowry is a big bonus for the one of the Tour’s most popular events.
Qualifying from the 'Legends’ category, three-time major winner, Padraig Harrington is teeing it up for the first time since playing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last March, and will be hoping to play himself into contention at the event where he took the title back in 2007 at Adare Manor.
The European Ryder Cup captain was expecting a very different experience this week, as he was set to be competing with the USA at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, and while he has spent the lockdown posting excellent training videos for aspiring golfers, the Dubliner is not sure where his game is going into the Galgorm event.
"Not sure what to expect from my game but I’m looking forward to the challenge," said Harrington.
Jonathan Caldwell gets in on the back of his Q-School performance in 2019 and the Clandeboye man will be very familiar with this week’s track.
Caldwell has played consistently all throughout the summer but has failed to make an impact at the weekend despite making all five cuts in his most recent events.
An opening round 65 at last week’s Portugal Masters will boost confidence ahead of this week’s event.
Cormac Sharvin will be another man very familiar with the Galgorm track and the Ardglass man will be hoping to rediscover some fine summer form that saw him record a top twenty at the English Championship in August, having led after the opening round.
Four under-par rounds that week saw the Dublin-based Sharvin finish in a tie for 19th place and made two more consecutive cuts at the Celtic Classic and ISPS Handa Wales Open.
Two players who could really do with a solid week around the Antrim track this week are Paul Dunne and Gavin Moynihan who both needed exemptions to qualify for this week's event.
Dunne has missed four of the last five cuts on the European Tour and will be looking to regain his 2017-2018 form, when he landed the British Masters as well as the team event GolfSixes, representing Ireland alongside Moynihan.
Dunne is currently ranked 271st in this year’s Race to Dubai.
Likewise, Skerries native Moynihan needs something to happen this year having missed a string of cuts since the resumption of the European Tour and sits 14 places further back on the Race to Dubai standings.
James Sugrue leads the amateur charge for the Irish this week having returned home after playing last week’s US Open.
Things did not go to plan for the Mallow golfer at the ultra tough Winged Foot track, posting 78 and 79 and missing the cut, however, he will take all that experience, as well as drawing on his recent successes, including the Amateur Championship in the summer of 2019 and will look to make an impact this week.
Tom McKibbin has long been tipped to become the new Rory McIlroy, also hailing from Holywood Golf Club in County Down, and the 17-year-old is one of three Irish amateurs in this week’s field.
McKibbin played at Galgorm at last year’s Northern Irish Open and will look to put that experience to good use this week.
Kilkenny’s Mark Power makes up the trio of amateurs this week and the Wake Forrest University golfer will be looking to bring his recent form this week having reached the semi-final of last month’s R&A Amateur Championship.
The final two Irish golfers in this week’s tournament are former European Tour players Colm Moriarty and Damian McGrane, who received the two national spots on offer.
Moriarty is currently based in Glasson GC and was beaten in a play-off at the recent Irish PGA Championship.
McGrane is a former Tour winner, having won the Volvo China Open back in 2008, and is currently based at Carlow GC.
Watch live coverage of the Irish Open from 1pm on Thursday and Friday, and 1.30pm on Saturday and Sunday, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player (Republic of Ireland).
