Here are the five things you need to know ahead of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open held at Galgorm Castle Golf Club.
Galgorm Castle makes European Tour debut
The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open will be played in Northern Ireland for the fourth time since 2012 as Galgorm Castle Golf Club makes its European Tour debut this week.
The tree-lined course, opened in 1997 and designed by Simon Gidman, has been a regular fixture on the Challenge Tour since 2013.
The 2020 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open was originally scheduled to take place at Mount Juliet Estate in County Kilkenny from May 28-31, but was postponed on March 30 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Challenge Tour ties
Galgorm Castle is a venue that boasts a recent history of staging exciting events, having played host to the European Challenge Tour’s Northern Ireland Open two weeks ago – won by Tyler Koivisto during his first Official World Golf Ranking event.
It was the sixth time the Northern Ireland Open has been held at Galgorm since 2013, with the exception being 2019 – when Galgorm made history as it staged the ISPS Handa World Invitational Men/Women.
A history of Major winners
Shane Lowry became just the third amateur in history to win a European Tour event when he lifted the 2009 Irish Open trophy, but he is far from the only Major champion to lift the Irish Open trophy.
The event, which was first held in 1975, boasts a list of winners that includes Ben Crenshaw, Hubert Green, Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam, José María Olazábal, Sir Nick Faldo, Sergio Garcia, Michael Campbell, Pádraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy.
Lowry headlines the field
The 2019 Open Champion returns to play on Irish soil for the first time since his emotional Portrush victory last year and will making his first start on the European Tour since the season’s restart in June.
Lowry, who began 2020 with a tie for 11th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and tie for 13th at the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisors, makes his way to Ireland following his 43rd place finish in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club.
Who to watch
In addition to Lowry, eyes will remain on the two South African winners of the past two weeks.
A man in form, George Coetzee followed up back-to-back victories on the Sunshine Tour’s Titleist Championship and European Tour’s Portugal Masters with a tied third place at last week’s Open de Portugal - his ninth worldwide top 10 of 2020.
Fellow South African Garrick Higgo beat Coetzee to his maiden European Tour win at the Open de Portugal, and returns to Galgorm Castle just two weeks after finishing seventh here during the Northern Irish Open.
