Mount Juliet Estate, Kilkenny July 1st-4th.

Sunday 4th

Australian Lucas Herbert finished strongly on the final day at Mount Juliet to lift the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open title. Three birdies on the back nine in a round of -4 saw him finish on -19, three shots clear of Rikard Karlberg on -16. Herbert had held a slender lead overnight

Irish Challengers

Shane Lowry hit an impressive 66 today for an overall tally of nine under. He will hope to carry that form into his defence of the Open title in Royal St.George. His round was blemish free as he recorded six birdies for a round of -6 today. Cormac Sharvin had been the best placed of the home challengers overnight. The Ardglass man went around in even par today for a -7 finish overall. Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy both recorded rounds of +2 for today and scores of -3 & -2 respectively.

Third Aussie winner of Irish Open

Lucas Herbert emulated his compatriots Ossie Pickworth (1950 at Royal Dublin) and Brett Rumford (2004 at County Louth) as only the third Australian winner of the Irish Open. It is his second European Tour victory in 65 appearances. It is also his first on European soil as his previous win came at the 2019 Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

A full leaderboard is available here.

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“It’s nice being back home,” the County Offaly Open champion said. “No matter where you go in the world it’s always nice to be home. Got home last week and got to see some family and friends at the weekend.

“Obviously coming here to play the Irish Open is exciting. It’s a tournament that obviously means a lot to me. And not that I owe a lot to it, but it kick-started my whole career with that invite I got here and winning it. It is nice to be here and it’s nice to have some good weather down here in Kilkenny, and, hopefully that stays for the rest of the week and we can all have a good week.”

Lowry’s career took off unexpectedly in 2009 when he won the Irish Open at County Louth Golf Club as an amateur.

He claimed his maiden Major title two years ago in front of his jubilant home fans in The Open Championship at Royal Portrush. The 34-year-old is happy to be back playing in front of Irish fans after this week’s event was chosen by the Irish government as one of the first pilot initiatives for extended capacity at outdoor sporting events.

Ryder Cup Captain Harrington

This week’s event also marks a special occasion for Harrington, who will play in front of the Irish crowds for the last time before he leads Team Europe as Captain at The Ryder Cup in September, and he is joined in the field by his recently-announced Vice Captains McDowell and Martin Kaymer.

Commenting on the current state of his game the Dubliner offered:

“I see some nice form. I’m always working away at things and trying to get my game in shape. At the moment I’m working more on my mental game. That’s a good sign. That’s normally when you get the better results. Somewhat focused on The Open in two weeks’ time, but that kind of helps because this week, it’s all about getting things right. You can’t just turn up and it’s not like a light switch where you just turn it on and off. It takes a bit of time.

“But I saw some good green shots last week, and it’s following on this week so far and hopefully I’ll keep doing it and play my game, do my stuff and hopefully Sunday with a few holes to go, I have a chance and enjoy those feelings of being stressed out under pressure for the last couple of holes.

“It’s great to be back here”

Graeme McDowell spoke of his delight at being back on an Irish golf course:

“Listen, any time you’re not playing an Irish Open, something’s going on, and obviously it’s been a crazy 15 months for everyone. It’s great to be back here at Mount Juliet. Dubai Duty Free continue to support us, and having people watching us will be great. Golf course is in fantastic condition.”

The Ulsterman expressed his delight with the layout of the course, stating:

“I think it’s a course that sets up pretty well for me, as well. You have to hit the fairways and keep the ball in play off the tee. You have a lot of short irons in your hand and perfect greens. It’s going to be a low-scoring affair and definitely got to come out of the gates hot tomorrow hopefully. I’m excited to be back, and looking forward to a good week.”

The first round of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open on Thursday will be live on RTÉ Sport.

The tee-off times for round one can be accessed here.

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“It’s looking fabulous,” admitted McIlroy, “Wonderful weather. Great golf course. It’s great. I’ve never played here before. I’ve been here to watch when the World Golf Championships were here in 2002 and 2004; we came down to watch, but a little different playing it. And, yeah, obviously the vantage point is a little different, as well.”

Previous Irish Open host

For four consecutive seasons from 2015, the Irishman put his name to his home open as the tournament host and was credited with helping revive the event’s fortunes to reclaim its status as one of the most eagerly-awaited fixtures on the Irish sporting calendar.

The 32-year-old, who claimed the famous trophy in 2016, is relishing the opportunity to be welcomed home by the Irish spectators at the sold-out event – which is one of a select number of pilot test events as crowds return to live sport in Ireland.

McIlroy, whose last appearance on home soil came at The 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, will play alongside his fellow 2018 Ryder Cup winner Tommy Fleetwood and John Catlin – who defends his title having added his name to the prestigious list of winners at Galgorm Castle Golf Club last September.

McIlroy “encouraged” by recent performance

Speaking about his recent US Open performance the US-based Irish golfer said:

“I was very encouraged walking away from Torrey Pines, to have a share of the lead on the final day through a few holes. I gave myself a good chance. Looking back, the one thing that I kicked myself about, it wasn’t the double on 12, you’re going to get some bad breaks and I got a bad break but it was the three-putt on 11 that stopped the momentum.

“I made a really good putt for par on ten and then probably hit my best shot of the day into 11. Great 5-iron into the middle of the green. And then, you know, that three-putt was just pretty sloppy, and that killed the momentum to go on from there. But I thought the week was a real positive on whole and I’m looking forward to these next three weeks.”

John Gatlin set to defend title

Last year’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open winner John Catlin is relishing the chance to defend his title:

“I’m very excited to defend, this is my first opportunity to defend my win,” the American said. “Even on the Asian Tour I didn’t have an opportunity to defend any of my wins so I’m really excited, a lot of the memories from last year coming back – different golf course but I’m definitely drawing on some of those shots I hit down the stretch and the confidence that gives me.

Commenting on his own game right night, Catlin stated:

“The game is pretty good. I’ve been putting in some good work when I was at home, with Noah my coach, just tightening some things up. I’m always trying to get a little better that I was before and I feel like I was close last week, I just couldn’t quite figure out the greens. I’m missing too many short putts and I missed the cut by a couple but that happens to everybody and I’m looking forward to this week.”

Round One tee-off times here.

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Mount Juliet Estate, Kilkenny

The Dubai Duty-Free Irish Open 2021 at Mount Juliet Estate is set to feature a who’s who of Irish golf. Graeme McDowell is set to host this year’s event and is set to welcome Rory McIlroy, Pádraig Harrington and Shane Lowry.

Former U.S. Open Champion and Ryder Cup 2010 hero McDowell was unable to fulfill his hosting duties at the 2020 event at Galgoram Castle in Co. Antrim last year. The Ballymena venue hosted the event last September in a pandemic enforced rescheduling. McDowell was among a host of players unable to participate due to their commitments at the U.S. Open in Winged Foot the previous week.

The 2016 Irish Open champion Rory McIlroy makes his return to the event for the first time since Ballyliffin in 2018. While the current Claret Jug holder and 2009 Irish Open winner Shane Lowry is also set to feature. Pádraig Harrington, who won the event at Adare in 2007, is also set to tee off at the beautiful Thomastown course on 1st July.

Last year’s tournament at the Co. Kilkenny venue was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this year’s event is set to see limited crowds return to the course. A limited number of tickets will be available tomorrow (Thursday, June 10th) for holders of tickets for last year’s event and those who register for a pre-sale window from 2pm tomorrow. Any remaining tickets will go on sale from 5pm.

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