The draw sheet has been released for the opening two rounds of the Amgen Irish Open at Trump International Golf Links Doonbeg, and some mouthwatering groupings have been confirmed.
All 138 players will start their rounds on the first, with the honour of hitting the opening shot falling to South African Jason Scrivener at 07:15.
A total of 10 Irishmen are in the field, with Mark Power, winner of the Christy O’Connor Jnr Memorial Trophy in the Irish Challenge for the second time in three years, the first to get underway when he joins Tom Vaillant of France and Jack Senior from England on deck at 07:55.
Irish PGA Championship winner Cormac Sharvin is next up alongside Frenchman Jeong Weon Ko and Korea’s K H Lee at 08:15 before the morning’s marquee groups begin to assemble.
Séamus Power, making his seventh start at his National Open, will play with Chile’s Joaquin Niemann who has 12 professional victories across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf League, and two-time European Ryder Cup star Sepp Straka of Austria at 09:30.
They are followed 10 minutes later by three-time major winner, reigning U.S. Senior Open champion and 2007 Irish Open winner Pádraig Harrington with Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra and five-time DP World Tour Rolex Series winner Tyrrell Hatton for company.
Thomas Higgins, hero of the Irish European Amateur Team Championship-winning side, makes his professional debut at 10:05 with South African Shaun Norris and Kota Kaneko of Japan in his group, while Max Kennedy is out at 11:50 and joined by Richard Mansell of England and Kazuma Kobori from New Zealand.
Tom McKibbin has made no secret of his desire to qualify for a first Ryder Cup appearance at Adare Manor and he’ll get a chance to leave a good impression on Luke Donald when he plays alongside the European captain at 13:15, with another Ryder Cup hopeful in Alex Fitzpatrick completing the trio.
Then, it’s the defending champion on deck at 13:35. Rory McIlroy, who won his second Irish Open crown in style at The K Club last year, plays alongside five-time major winner Brooks Koepka and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre in the marquee group of the afternoon.
They are closely followed by 2009 winner Shane Lowry with two-time major winner and two-time Irish Open winner Jon Rahm and current Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed who tee off at 13:45.
Liam Nolan will be the last of the Irishmen and in the last group head to the first tee in round one when he starts at 15:10 alongside Scotland’s David Law and Renato Paratore of Italy.
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