This year's Dubai Duty Free Irish Open marks a decade since the 2009 edition kickstarted Shane Lowry's career.
The Offaly is back taking part again this year at Lahinch. A couple of days before he tees off officially, he's had a taste of the course.
John Duggan caught up with him and Lowry gave an insight into how the course is playing so far.
"The course is in incredible condition. It looks great and it's going to look great on TV," he said.
"It's playing firmish - firm but not too firm. Hopefully we don't get any rain during the week and it'll firm up come the weekend.
Tricky and Tough
"It's going to be a tricky week and it's going to be a tricky course I think. A lot of people think the scoring's going to be quite good but I'm not so sure. There are lot of tricky and tough holes out there.
"So I'm looking forward to getting out there on Thursday and seeing what it's playing like."
He also added that it's crucial as a part of his build-up to The Open at Portrush.
"It's nice to be playing here and then I'll play some links golf on my week off," Lowry confirmed.
"It is a nice little run-in to The Open. I'm not sure it's ideal for me, but it's something that obviously because of the Irish Open, I'm here and I really want to be here. I wouldn't miss it for the world.
"So like I said, I'm not sure it's ideal in the schedule and the calendar for me. But it is what it is. I'd ideally like to be playing next week. But I'm not going to play three weeks of links golf in a row and I'm always going to play the Irish Open."
Rory McIlroy had long confirmed that he will miss the tournament as he devises a schedule that helps him tackle The Open. Lowry understands his reasoning and also praised McIlroy's input into growing the Irish Open's profile in recent years.
"We a owe a lot to [Rory and the sponsors]. I can see where he's coming from," he said.
You can watch the full interview with Shane Lowry above via the video player above.
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