Mount Juliet in Kilkenny is the venue for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open which gets underway this morning.
Shane Lowry and Jonathan Caldwell are the first Irish golfers in action at 8am - they're grouped with Martin Kaymer.
Rory McIlroy tees off at 1pm alongside Tommy Fleetwood and defending champion John Catlin.
Tramore golfer Robin Dawson will look to put his recent Challenge Tour performances behind him as he plays on an invitation at this week’s Open.
It is an opportunity he is relishing and while recent performances have not been up to his usual standard he feels his game is not in bad shape and he is thrilled to have Faithlegg Pro Derry Kiely as caddy this week.
"It probably looks a lot worse than it actually is, I'm actually hitting it nice and well in practice and golf is such a funny game.
"A couple of bounces here and there and a couple of outputs - I just feel it's not going my way at times.
"I have a good caddy on the bag this week and the last few weeks I didn't have any caddy due to Covid so it's nice to be playing Main Tour this week and having a caddy on the bag to talk through shots and give a bit more clarity on things," Dawson said.
In all, there are 16 Irish golfers in the field and 2,500 people will attend each day.
