Padraig Harrington has given the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by Rory Foundation a big boost by confirming that there is no doubt over his participation at Royal County Down Golf Club, after a shoulder injury ruled him out of last week's BMW PGA Championship.
The Irishman won this event back in 2007, before going on to claim the first of his three Major titles at The Open Championship two months later.
It is a tournament that has always been very close to his heart, but the 43 year old admitted there is something quite special about this year’s edition, which is hosted by Rory McIlroy’s charitable foundation and has attracted the strongest field in its long history.
Add to that a venue which is widely regarded as one of the best golf courses in the world, and it is no surprise that Harrington is desperate to regain full fitness and vie for a second Irish Open title.
“It's certainly improved enough that I don't feel like there's any doubt about me playing on Thursday," he said. "It's not quite a hundred percent at the moment. I’m going to get a bit of an assessment after this and then I'm going to have more physiotherapy.
“But it's a good sign that, while the injury is still there, I have to go looking for it now where earlier on in the week, I couldn't lift my arm without pain.
“It’s great to be back here at the Irish Open, great to come and play Royal County Down. It will be interesting, to play a links golf course for this event.
“Rory has made a huge effort, he's put so much in. It’s hard to tell everybody how much of an effort he's put in on the ground to push the tournament to the next level - fair play to him.
“It’s very impressive to put that commitment in and we'll hopefully all reap the benefits of this in the following years.”
With Harrington and McIlroy joined by a host of Irish stars at the season town of Newcastle, including Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry, there is likely to be a strong home presence at the top of the leaderboard throughout the week.
Having himself experienced the incredible atmosphere that comes with winning in front of home crowds, the Dubliner hopes that the droves of spectators this week will have a local star to cheer for come Sunday afternoon.
“I wouldn't bet against the Irish," he said. "I'm sure if you took the whole of the contingent against the Irish field, we're odds on. I would expect that there's more chance of having an Irish winner than not. I know it can be tough at times playing in your own national event.
“But just because we're on a links golf course, I think that really takes a few people out and I think the fact that we are on possibly in tough conditions, that's going to take a few more people out.
“I really do believe that with the conditions that are forecast on the golf course, you want to have that natural aptitude for playing links golf. Basically you want to have grown up playing it. It will basically play into the hands of the Irish guys who have competed in links golf in their junior days.”
Clarke, who announced in his press conference that the qualification race for The Ryder Cup would begin at the M2M Russian Open in September, is relishing the opportunity to play such a superb course, having played a big part in bringing the Irish Open to Royal Portrush back in 2012.
“Obviously it's very special to be back playing the Irish Open here in Northern Ireland," he said. "We're again on one of the best courses in the world.
"It's going to be a really, really tough challenge this week. It's a slightly different challenge in that you've got quite a few blind shots but again that's part of what makes Royal County Down so special.
“It's great to be back here with Rory as host. You can't speak highly enough of what he's done, what he's achieved but also what he's trying to do off the golf course with his foundation.
“For a man so young to be giving so much back again speaks volumes about him. He's taken his position as World Number One, and he's embraced it.”
Those home favourites are joined by a plethora of world stars on the east coast of Northern Ireland, including the reigning US Open Champion and Ryder Cup star Martin Kaymer, World Number Seven Sergio Garcia and the recent winner of the Players’ Championship on the US PGA Tour, Rickie Fowler.
Not only that, but the prize fund was increased by 25 percent to €2.5 million following the addition of Dubai Duty Free as title sponsor, with the 2015 champion taking home €416,660 compared to the €333,330 that Mikko Ilonen received last year.
The huge success of the event was confirmed by the fact that tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday completely sold out before a ball was even struck.
