Shane Lowry will be expected to warm up for his defence of The Open in the 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet from 1-4 July.

European Tour boss Keith Pelley can take a bow after putting together an expansive 2021 schedule that includes a €3 million Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet from July 1-4.

As revealed by the Irish Independent last week, the Irish Open returns to a plum summer slot, two weeks before The Open, with the Championship scheduled for the Jack Nicklaus designed course at Mount Juliet Estate in Co Kilkenny.

The decision of title sponsor Dubai Duty Free to remain on board is another huge plus, as they had the option to walk away or continue for another two years.

As it turns out, Dubai Duty Free and the Tour reached a compromise with the travel retail giant remaining on for 2021 only, a spokesperson confirmed, though discussions with the European Tour about their future involvement with the event will continue.

“We are very happy to once again be the title sponsor for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and looking forward to the tournament in Mount Juliet next summer,” said Sinead El Sibai, Senior Vice President - Marketing for Dubai Duty Free. “This is for a one year agreement for 2021 and we will keep up our discussions with the European Tour in the meantime.”

With the JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am scheduled to take place at Adare Manor the Monday and Tuesday after the Irish Open, there will also be high hopes that the event can secure the presence of a couple of the big names, though Rory McIlroy is still considered a doubtful starter.

As for the prize fund, it is a positive that it has been raised to €3 million after the European Tour was forced to remove its Rolex Series status and reduce the purse from from US$7 million (€5.75m) to €1.25 million this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the event forced move from Mount Juliet in May to Galgorm Castle in September, the Irish Open was one of four events to lose its Rolex Series status this season alongside the Italian Open, the Turkish Airlines Open and the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

As a result, there will now be a “Refined Rolex Series” in 2021 with just fours events instead of the eight as the European Tour, and Rolex, concentrate their resources.

While the Turkish Airlines Open does not return, the Nedbank Golf Challenge, the Irish and Italian Opens will continue without Rolex Series status though Ireland and Italy — the next two European Ryder Cup host countries — see the prize funds for their national opens increased to €3 million.

That’s left more cash for the Tour and Rolex to increase the purses for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and the BMW PGA by $1 million each to at least $8 million in 2021.

The European Tour’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai also sees its purse increased by $1 million to $9 million with the champion again pocketing a cool $3 million — the biggest winner's cheque in the world of golf.

As was the case this year, events have been grouped in geographical zones with the Middle East swing at the start of the year, followed by an Iberian Swing in April and a UK Swing in July that will also offer a new mixed event opposite the Men’s Olympic Golf Competition, co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour.

"There is no question that the challenge of reshaping our 2020 season in many ways informed our approach to 2021,” Pelley said of the new schedule.

“One of the key learnings was to group events together in terms of their geographical location to create a more travel friendly season for our members. That is reflected in numerous concentrations of event locations.

"Another was to continue to enhance our Rolex Series events at strategic points in the global golfing calendar when the European Tour will be the focal point of golf on the world stage.

“This is one of the many aspects we will continue to develop in our Strategic Alliance discussions with the PGA Tour, following our historic partnership announcement last month.”

2021 European Tour international schedule

January

21-24 ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP Abu Dhabi GC, Abu Dhabi, UAE

28-31 Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Emirates GC, Dubai, UAE

February

4-7 Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers, Royal Greens G&CC, King Abdullah Economic City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

24-28 WGC - Mexico Championship, Chapultepec GC, Mexico City, Mexico

March

4-7 Oman Open, Al Mouj Golf, Muscat, Oman

11-14 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, Education City GC, Doha, Qatar

18-21 Magical Kenya Open, Karen CC, Nairobi, Kenya

24-28 WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play, Austin CC, Austin, TX, USA

April

8-11 THE MASTERS, Augusta National GC, Augusta, GA, USA

15-18 Tenerife Open, Golf Costa Adeje, Adeje, Tenerife, Spain

22-25 Gran Canaria Open, TBC

29-2 May Portugal Masters, Dom Pedro Victoria GC, Vilamoura, Portugal

May

6-9 European Event Confirmed, TBC

12-15 Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett (Wed-Sat), The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, England

20-23 U.S. PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Kiawah Island, SC, USA

27-30 Made in HimmerLand presented by FREJA, HimmerLand, Farsoe, Denmark

June

3-6 Porsche European Open, Green Eagle Golf Courses, Hamburg, Germany

10-13 Scandinavian Mixed Hosted by Henrik & Annika, Vallda G&CC, Kungsbacka, Gothenburg, Sweden

17-20 U.S. OPEN, Torrey Pines GC, San Diego, CA, USA

24-27 BMW International Open, Golfclub München Eichenried, Munich, Germany

July

1-4 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland

8-11 ABERDEEN STANDARD INVESTMENTS SCOTTISH OPEN, The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland

15-18 The 149th OPEN, Royal St, George's GC, Sandwich, Kent, England

22-25 Wales Open, The Celtic Manor Resort, City of Newport, Wales

29-1 Aug UK Event Confirmed, TBC

29-1 Aug Olympic Men's Golf Competition, Kasumigaseki CC, Saitama, Japan

August

5-8 Hero Open, Fairmont St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland

5-8 WGC - FedEx St. Jude Invitational, TPC Southwind, Memphis, TN, USA

12-15 English Open, TBC

19-22 D+D Real Czech Masters, Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, Czech Republic

26-29 Omega European Masters, Crans-sur-Sierre GC, Crans Montana, Switzerland

September

2-5 Italian Open, Marco Simone GC, Rome, Italy

9-12 BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, Wentworth Club, Virginia Water, Surrey, England

12-15 KLM Open, Bernardus Golf, Cromvoirt, The Netherlands

24-26 The 2020 Ryder Cup, Whistling Straits GC, WI, USA

30-3 Oct Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Old Course St Andrews, Carnoustie & Kingsbarns, Scotland

October

7-10 Open de España, Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

14-17 Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, Real Club Valderrama, Sotogrande, Spain

21-24 Trophee Hassan II (TBC), Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, Rabat, Morocco

28-31 WGC - HSBC Champions, Sheshan International GC, Shanghai, China

28-31 Hero Indian Open, TBC

November

4-7 Volvo China Open, Genzon GC, Shenzhen, China

11 - 14 Nedbank Golf Challenge Hosted by Gary Player, Gary Player CC, Sun City, South Africa

18 - 21 DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP, DUBAI, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai, UAE