Reigning Open Champion Shane Lowry is among the group of home superstars ready to bask in the atmosphere of playing in front of spectators at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, where he will be joined by four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy, Ryder Cup Captain Pádraig Harrington and former U.S Open Champion Graeme McDowell. Lowry’s career took off unexpectedly in 2009 when the Offaly player shocked the field to win the island of Ireland’s national open at County Louth Golf Club as an amateur, widely regarded as one of the most famous moments in modern Irish sporting history. Having also claimed his maiden Major title two years ago in front of his jubilant home fans in The Open Championship at Royal Portrush, the 34-year-old is buzzing to tee it up in front of spectators once again after this week’s event was chosen by the Irish government as one of the first pilot initiatives for extended capacity at outdoor sporting events. This week's event also marks a special occasion for Harrington, who will play in front of the Irish crowds for the last time before he leads Team Europe as Captain at The Ryder Cup in September, and he is joined in the field by his recently-announced Vice Captains McDowell and Martin Kaymer. Player quotes: Shane Lowry: "It's nice being back home. No matter where you go in the world it's always nice to be home. Got home last week and got to see some family and friends at the weekend that I haven't seen since Christmas, so that was nice. "Obviously coming here to play the Irish Open is exciting. It's a tournament that obviously means a lot to me. And not that I owe a lot to it, but it kick-started my whole career with that invite I got here and winning it, so I probably do owe a lot to the tournament. It is nice to be here and it's nice to have some good weather down here in Kilkenny, and, hopefully that stays for the rest of the week and we can all have a good week. "I grew up about an hour and a half from here, so played here a few times over the years. It's probably not as long as the modern day golf course that we play, but I think the fairways are narrow enough to maybe make it trickier when you do miss fairways because it's quite firm out there. It's a lovely place to play golf and a lovely place to be. "Obviously we have our bubble this week but it doesn't feel like a bubble here at Mount Juliet because it's so nice here. We were actually commenting, there were a few lads at dinner last night in the bar, we were commenting on that; it doesn't feel like the actual bubble this week because the surroundings are so nice. It's great to be here and at a nice venue, and hopefully I can be here for the whole week and hopefully I can be here until late Sunday afternoon."

Australian Lucas Herbert carded a sizzling 64 to move into the lead at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, where a host of former Ryder Cup stars sit three strokes off the pace after day one at Mount Juliet Estate. The 25-year-old already has one European Tour title to his name, having triumphed at the 2020 Omega Dubai Desert Classic in breakthrough season which earned him a 14th place finish on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex. Herbert carded an eight under par opening round at the sun-kissed Kilkenny venue to move to the summit, ahead of American Johannes Veerman who signed for a bogey-free seven under 65 late in the day while Scot Grant Forrest is a shot further back on six under. Martin Kaymer and Nicolas Colsaerts, both of whom were central to Europe’s 2012 Ryder Cup triumph in the Miracle at Medinah, joined fellow former Ryder Cup players Tommy Fleetwood, Thorbjørn Olesen and Andy Sullivan, in a share of fourth place alongside nine others on five under par. Colm Moriarty, a former Challenge Tour winner back in 2007, was the best of the homegrown players on four under par, while Open Champion Shane Lowry carded a two under par 70 and four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy opened his account with a 72. Player quotes: Lucas Herbert: "It was a bit of a slow start. Even sort of the first eight holes, I birdied 15, made a nice putt and then 17, hit it in there pretty tight for eagle and missed it. Even the first eight holes felt a little bit slow out there, only hitting the two-ball with Laurie, and we just both felt like we are hitting it quite nice and couldn't make any putts. "I made a really long one on 18 for birdie and that kind of sparked things and got things going. Was able to play really nice that last nine holes. Felt like I was trying to get to 5- or 6-under and I didn't really want to try and just attack really, really hard. "It was just try and hit the ball in the right spots, give yourself some looks on the greens and felt like if I could get to 5- or 6-under that would be a really good day. A few more rolled in and I got to eight. "You can see in the fairways, even walking up the 9th there, starting to get some fairways that look like some pretty typical Irish Open stuff. It's always fun when you come out and play some firm, fast golf courses. Coming from America, the rough is not as thick as probably been used to but it definitely up enough to make you interested out there. "It's a little bit tight in spots as well where you're not taking driver and just sending it. You have to play to some positions. Second group out we were, the greens were unbelievable. I can't remember putting on greens that nice. It was definitely good to get out early and take advantage of that. It will be interesting to see tomorrow afternoon how they are playing, but golf course is really nice."

Lucas Herbert continued his charge towards a second European Tour title in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open after the Australian followed his opening 64 with a second round 67 to open up a two-shot lead at Mount Juliet Estate. The 25-year-old started the day with a one-stroke advantage over the field but a five under second round, which included eight birdies, moved him to a 13 under total and doubled his lead as he bids to become just the third player from Australia to win the island of Ireland’s national open. In a share of second place were Englishman Andy Sullivan, after the 2016 Ryder Cup player shot a six under 66, and Scot Grant Forrest who signed for a 67. Four-time European Tour winner Sullivan finished in a tie for second in his last appearance at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in 2019 and he will be looking to go one better in Kilkenny. Forrest is another player hoping to feed off the memories of the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Lahinch Golf Club – the 2018 Challenge Tour graduate played alongside Robert Rock on day three as he came within a shot of a 59, before being drawn in the final round with Jon Rahm as the Spaniard fired a scorching 62 to soar to a famous victory in front of sell-out crowds. It was a better day for the home favourites at Mount Juliet as four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy shot an impressive 67 to move to a five under total, where he was later joined by The Open Champion Shane Lowry who made a late charge to move from outside the cut line to within eight strokes of the lead with two rounds still to play. Player quotes: Lucas Herbert: "It was a little frustrating but also felt like I did pretty well to scrap 67 out of that. Yeah, I holed some really nice putts and missed some that I thought were good chances to make; obviously the double on three. "For a round that hopefully is not the better one of the week, I felt like I did really well to get a lot out of it and put myself into a very good position going into the weekend. "I think it's definitely something that comes with a win where you know you've proved to yourself that you can win, you can hit shots under pressure and actually win. So I'll be taking a lot of experience from that into the weekend and try and draw on that confidence, as well." Andy Sullivan: "I'm feeling a lot better about my long game today. Yesterday was a struggle off the tee. Couldn't find too many fairways. Yesterday was a surprise but more of a relief, really, how I played and today was back to how I normally play, a lot more fairways, a lot more greens. "It was good, really good. Holed some really good putts. The putter is feeling good. It felt good last week and it's rolled into this week. "Every time I've played in Ireland, fans have always been fantastic and have given my a great reception. It does definitely get your adrenaline going and the buzz about the place. You always enjoy a witty laugh from the Irish crowds."