McIlroy "on the verge of something very, very big"; Lowry motoring in Honda

Rory McIlroy. Picture: USGA

World No 1 Rory McIlroy will tee it up in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open after a one-year absence and Paul McGinley reckons he could arrive at Mount Juliet with a green jacket in his luggage.

The Co Down man skipped McGinley's hosting of the event at Lahinch last year, preferring instead to warm up for The Open at the Scottish Open. But he won’t be letting down host Graeme McDowell from May 28-31.

With the $7 million Rolex Series extravaganza changing date to ensure his presence and those of Jon Rahm and Shane Lowry, the four-time major winner is gunning to win his second Irish Open title on the course where he watched five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods in the flesh for the first time when he was just 13.

“I’m looking forward to it a lot,”  McIlroy said. "I’ve never played the course but got good memories – it was the first time I ever watched Tiger Woods play in person.

“My dad drove me down [in 2002] and we watched the WGC there and that was really cool, so it’ll be exciting to tee it up there myself and try to win a tournament there.”

McIlroy won the last parkland staging of the Irish Open at The K Club in 2016 and McGinley reckons the Holywood star is playing so consistently well that he could return home as Masters champion.

"He's on the verge of something very, very big," said McGinley. “His underlying stats are really strong. He's gone from being a yo-yo player to Mr Consistency and what we need to see now is those flashes of brilliance.

“Winning a major is certainly on the horizon. If he continues like this, it's only a matter of time and hopefully that's going to be the Masters.”

The field at Mount Juliet will also includes defending champion Rahm and reigning Open champion Lowry.

The Offaly man is chasing a Ryder Cup debut this year and he's put himself in position to win big points at the Honda Classic.

The world No 19 birdied his final hole to card a second successive 69 that left tied for ninth, him just three shots behind leader Brendan Steele, who leader by a shot on five-under from JT Posten, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood. Scores

Shane Lowry © USGA/Chris Keane

Pádraig Harrington lost confidence on the greens, missing eight putts inside 10 feet, and after getting back to level par following two early birdies, shot a 74 with 34 putts to miss the cut on six-over as world No 3 Brooks Koepka carded another 74 to finish two shots further back.

It was another up and down day for the Clara star (32), who bogeyed three of his first four holes in chilly early conditions, missing from just 18 inches for par at the 13th.

But with his putter warming up, he followed back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th with a chip-in eagle at the 18th before making two birdies and two bogeys in a level par back nine.

“Early on its was really cold, probably only 8 degrees, but I managed it well after a bad start,” said Lowry, who is feeling at home in the blustery conditions on one of the PGA Tour’s toughest courses. “I played a couple of hard holes well in the Bear Trap and I was off and running. 

“I’m disappointed I’ve dropped a couple of silly shots over the first couple of days but I really feel my game is where I want it to be. 

“It’s a very tough golf course but I seem to like the challenge of tough golf courses. The wind really eats up the ball but it’s like a cool spring day at home. I’m kind of used to it.”

Cormac Sharvin was also sharp at the Oman Open, leading the strokes gained from tee to green statistics with as he fired a bogey-free five-under 67 to go into the weekend tied for 29th, seven shots behind Scot Stephen Gallacher and Danish teen Rasmus Hojgaard on two-under. Scores

“I didn’t hole much today, I’ve just flushed it tee to green,” Sharvin said. “I was very very poor on greens yesterday.”

Mallow amateur James Sugrue shot 77 to miss the cut alongside Jonathan Caldwell (78-71 )on six-over with the damage down by a triple-bogey, par, double-bogey run at the end of his front nine as he followed a 73 with a 77.

At the 16th (his seventh) Sugrue thinned an 80 yard bunker shot over the green and was unlucky that it hit a path and bounced out of bounds.

His hopes of making the cut were then dealt a killer blow when he missed the 18th green, chipped on and three-putted.

On the PGA Tour Champions, Darren Clarke opened with a three-under to lie six shots behind Brett Quigley in the Cologuard Classic at Omni Tucson National. Scores