McIlroy to get Irish Open major show on the road
Rory McIlroy jetted into Killarney late on Tuesday to begin his Irish Open preparations after a short break in the south of France.
Whether or not he hooked up with new love interest Caroline Wozniaki at her Monte Carlo base was a subject of much debate in Co Kerry. But the US Open champion will be at the centre of attention for nothing more than his golf when he is the first of Ireland’s four major winners to go into action at 7.50 tomorrow morning alongside defending champion Ross Fisher and pal David Horsey.
Last year’s US Open champion Graeme McDowell is in the next group with Simon Dyson and Aussie left-hander Richard Green. But fans who aren’t early risers will still get to see Irish major champions in action in the afternoon.
Newly crowned Open champion Darren Clarke goes off with 2009 Irish Open winner Shane Lowry and Frenchman Gregory Bourdy at 12.15 with Padraig Harrington, Damien McGrane and 2008 champion Richard Finch following them at 12.25.
In total there are 28 Irishmen in action, including amateur stars Paul Cutler, Alan Dunbar, Kevin Phelan and Dermot McElroy.
Tomorrow (Friday) - First tee.
Irish unless stated (* denotes amateur),
7.00 (11.20) S Strange (Aus) M Wiegele (Aut) G Storm (Eng),
7.10 (11.30) M Jonzon (Swe) P Sjoland (Swe) A Velasco (Sp),
7.20 (11.40) A Kang (USA) G Orr (Sco) G Boyd (Eng),
7.30 (11.50) H Otto (RSA) D Lynn (Eng) F Zanotti (Par),
7.40 (12.00) D Howell (Eng) C Moriarty B Lane (Eng),
7.50 (12.15) D Horsey (Eng) R Fisher (Eng) R McIlroy,
8.00 (12.25) S Dyson (Eng) R Green (Aus) G McDowell,
8.10 (12.35) S Gallacher (Sco) R Rock (Eng) P Lawrie,
8.20 (12.45) S Khan (Eng) N Lemke (Swe) M Hoey,
8.30 (12.55) M Zions (Aus) J Parry (Eng) JM Lara (Sp),
8.45 (1.05) S Hansen (Den) M Foster (Eng) B Rumford (Aus),
8.55 (1.15) S Dodd (Wal) J Luiten (Ned) R Cabrera Bello (Sp),
9.05 (1.25) O Floren (Swe) L Slattery (Eng) D McWilliams,
9.15 (1.35) I Garrido (Sp) M Lafeber (Ned) C Cevaer (Fr),
9.25 (1.45) J Kelly M Tullo (Chi) B Wiesberger (Aut),
9.35 (2.0) D Dixon (Eng) O Wilson (Eng) O Henningsson (Swe),
9.45 (2.10) J Kingston (RSA) J Huldahl (Den) M Fraser (Aus),
9.55 (2.20) S O’Hara (Sco) R Echenique (Arg) C Nilsson (Swe),
10.05 (2.30) T Norret (Den) A Dunbar* M Nixon (Eng),
10.15 (2.40) R Wattel (Fra) F Fritsch (Ger) M Murphy,
10.30 (2.50) R Davies (Wal) A Wall (Eng) R Coles (Eng),
10.40 (3.00) S Webster (Eng) M Haastrup (Den) G Fernandez Castaño (Sp),
10.50 (3.10) M Siem (Ger) A Dodt (Aus) M Brown (NZ),
11.00 (3.20) M Haines (Eng) G Murray (Sco) J Haeggman (Swe),
11.10 (3.30) D Gaunt (Aus) K Phelan* F de Vries (Ned),
11.20 (7.00) K Horne (RSA) R McGowan (Eng) N Dougherty (Eng),
11.30 (7.10) A Harto (Den) P Cutler* M Brier (Aut),
11.40 (7.20) R Dinwiddie (Eng) L Saltman (Sco) L Gagli (Ita),
11.50 (7.30) N Fox S Wakefield (Eng) S Benson (Eng),
12.00 (7.40) SSP Chowrasia (Ind) G Murphy B Dredge (Wal),
12.15 (7.50) G Bourdy (Fra) D Clarke S Lowry,
12.25 (8.00) R Finch (Eng) P Harrington D McGrane,
12.35 (8.10) R Jacquelin (Fra) JM Singh (Ind) P McGinley,
12.45 (8.20) M Campbell (NZ) S Hend (Aus) G Maybin,
12.55 (8.30) J Van Zyl (RSA) D Willett (Eng) C Wood (Eng),
1.05 (8.45) R Ramsay (Sco) T Goya (Arg) S Jamieson (Sco),
1.15 (8.55) J Donaldson (Wal) P Whiteford (Sco) J Morrison (Eng),
1.25 (9.05) JB Gonnet (Fra) O Fisher (Eng) F Aguilar (Chi),
1.35 (9.15) V Dubuisson (Fra) D Mortimer T Sluiter (Ned),
1.45 (9.25) A Kaleka (Fra) D McElroy* M Korhonen (Fin),
2.00 (9.35) R Bland (Eng) D Carter (Eng) B Trainor,
2.10 (9.45) D Drysdale (Sco) K Ferrie (Eng) T Olesen (Den),
2.20 (9.55) R McEvoy (Eng) N Fasth (Swe) P Price (Wal),
2.30 (10.05) S Pinckney (USA) N Kearney J Zapata (Arg),
2.40 (10.15) D Higgins R Karlberg (Swe) S Norris (RSA),
2.50 (10.30) A Cañizares (Sp) S Kapur (Ind) R Derksen (Ned),
3.00 (10.40) D Mooney C del Moral (Sp) S Manley (Wal),
3.10 (10.50) L Bond (Wal) J Sjoholm (Swe) E Brady,
3.20 (11.00) MA Carlsson (Swe) S Thornton S Lewton (Eng),
3.30 (11.10) M Quiros (Sp) W Ormsby (Aus) M Collins.