Irish duo head to Portstewart

Former Irish Open winners Padraig Harrington and Shane Lowry have confirmed that they will be at Portstewart this July. (Photo by Marianna Massey/Getty Images)

They will join host and defending champion Rory McIlroy at Portstewart Golf Club from July 6-9.

Thanks to the recent successes of defending champion McIlroy, Lowry (2009) and Harrington (2007), the past ten years of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open have been the most fruitful for home champions in the long history of the event – which dates back to 1927.

“The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open is always one of the first events I put on my schedule every year and I am really looking forward to playing another classic links golf course in Portstewart in July,” said three-time Major winner Harrington.

“After taking medical advice I have been advised to have surgery on a trapped nerve which is likely to keep me out for 8 to 10 weeks, but it should allow me to be fit for the busy stretch in the summer, with the Irish Open and The Open the obvious focal points of that run.

“Winning the Irish Open will always be up there with the Major Championship victories as one of the biggest moments of my career and with the event now part of the Rolex Series, it should be a great tournament.”

Lowry said: “The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open is always such a special occasion with phenomenal crowds so I know it will be another incredible week at Portstewart in July. Having won at Baltray, I love playing the Irish Open on links courses.

“The tournament has such a good date two weeks before the Open, and with the event now part of the Rolex Series, we will definitely have a world-class field.

“Obviously my life has changed recently with the arrival of Iris, and hopefully the happiness she brings off the course will help me to play better golf and make a really good run of it over the next few months because I have some of my favourite tournaments of the year to look forward to.”

Tickets for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation are on sale at www.dubaidutyfreeirishopen.com, and begin at £20 for Pro-Am Wednesday, with tickets for Thursday and Friday costing £40 and day tickets for the weekend costing £45.

An adult season souvenir ticket, which covers five days of world class golf, costs just £100 (a saving of £90 over the course of the five days).

Concessions are available for over 60s and between 16 and 21, while children up to 16 are free entry when accompanied by a ticket holding adult.

To get a full seated view of all of the drama at the 18th green, grandstand tickets cost an additional £11.50 for Thursday and Friday, £16.50 for Saturday and £21.50 for Sunday.