Jon Rahm gets Irish Open defence off to an early start at Ballyliffin

Defending champion Jon Rahm will have a chance to set down an early marker in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Ballyliffin this week.

The big Spaniard earned his first European Tour win at Portstewart last year, where he romped to a six-shot win, finishing 24 under par.

He bookended his tournament with 65s last year and Rahm will tee off at 8.20am on Thursday from the 10th tee on the Glashedy Course along with fellow Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello and Graeme McDowell.

McDowell will hope to have been reacquainted with his golf clubs before then after his bag was mislaid at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris as he returned from the French Open, causing him to pull out of a 36-hole British Open qualifier in Blackpool due to not having his clubs.

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Pádraig Harrington tees off in the group after McDowell alongside England’s Chris Wood and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

The galleries have some stellar groups to follow in the afternoon, with Rory McIlroy teeing it up at 1.20pm on the first tee in the company of England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick and Thorbjørn Olesen of Denmark.

Paul Dunne will go out just before McIlroy at 1.10pm with France’s Alexander Levy and England’s Matt Wallace.

Shane Lowry will follow McIroy’s group in a standout three-ball with England’s Lee Westwood and Thomas Pieters of Belgium.

THURSDAY
(Irish and British unless stated)
FIRST TEE - MORNING
07:30 Mark Foster, Pedro Oriol (Esp), Ashun Wu (Chn)
07:40 David Drysdale, Jens Dantorp (Swe), James Morrison
07:50 Chris Hanson, Grégory Havret (Fra), Henric Sturehed (Swe)
08:00 Adrien Saddier (Fra), Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha), Ashley Chesters 08:10 Matthew Baldwin, Andrea Pavan (Ita), Benjamin Hebert (Fra)
08:20 Laurie Canter, David Horsey, Robert Rock
08:30 Stephen Gallacher, Jason Scrivener (Aus), Oliver Fisher
08:40 Marcus Fraser (Aus), Steven Brown, Nino Bertasio (Ita)
08:50 Peter Hanson (Swe), Matthieu Pavon (Fra), Scott Hend (Aus)
09:00 Soomin Lee (Kor), Brandon Stone (Rsa), Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa)
09:10 Ricardo Gouveia (Por), Sam Horsfield, Wade Ormsby (Aus)
09:20 Nico Geyger (Chi), Renato Paratore (Ita), Charlie Ford (Eng)
09:30 Ruaidhrí McGee, Jason Norris (Aus), Marc Warren

AFTERNOON
12:30 Marcel Siem (Ger), Paul Waring, Richard Sterne (Rsa)
12:40 Pablo Larrazábal (Esp), Thomas Detry (Bel), Lee Slattery
12:50 Austin Connelly (Can), Dean Burmester (RSA), Gavin Moynihan
13:00 Peter Uihlein (USA), Julian Suri (USA), Haotong Li (Chn)
13:10 Paul Dunne, Alexander Levy (Fra), Matt Wallace
13:20 Matthew Fitzpatrick, Thorbjørn Olesen (Den), Rory McIlroy
13:30 Shane Lowry, Lee Westwood, Thomas Pieters (Bel)
13:40 Robert Karlsson (Swe), Russell Knox, Alexander Björk (Swe)
13:50 Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjørn (Den), Danny Willett
14:00 David Howell, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Paul McGinley
14:10 SSP Chawrasia (Ind), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño (Esp), George Coetzee (Rsa)
14:20 Scott Fernandez (Esp), Richie Ramsay, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn)
14:30 Zander Lombard (Rsa), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Raphaël Jacquelin (Fra)

10TH TEE
MORNING
07:30 Ryan Evans, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Marcus Kinhult (Swe)
07:40 Scott Jamieson, Brett Rumford (Aus), Matthew Southgate
07:50 Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel), Ryan Fox (Nzl), Jorge Campillo (Esp)
08:00 Yusaku Miyazato (Jpn), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Adrian Otaegui (Esp)
08:10 Mikko Korhonen (Fin), Dylan Frittelli (Rsa), Andy Sullivan
08:20 Graeme McDowell, Jon Rahm (Esp), Rafa Cabrera Bello (Esp)
08:30 Pádraig Harrington, Chris Wood, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha)
08:40 Jamie Donaldson, Eddie Pepperell, Lucas Bjerregaard (Den)
08:50 Søren Kjeldsen (Den), Jordan Smith, Shubhankar Sharma (Ind)
09:00 Carlos Pigem (Esp), Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin), Jinho Choi (Kor)
09:10 Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Erik Van Rooyen (Rsa), Alvaro Quiros (Esp)
09:20 Bradley Neil, Cian McNamara, Simon Thornton
09:30 Gavin Green (Mas), David Lipsky (USA), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra)

AFTERNOON
12:30 Daniel Brooks, Sébastien Gros (Fra), Cormac Sharvin
12:40 Oliver Farr, Jeff Winther (Den), Neil O'Briain
12:50 Richard Bland, Andrew Dodt (Aus), Joakim Lagergren (Swe)
13:00 Andres Romero (Arg), Grégory Bourdy (Fra), Jeunghun Wang (Kor)
13:10 Romain Wattel (Fra), Lasse Jensen (Den), Chris Paisley
13:20 Matthew Nixon, Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Nacho Elvira (Esp)
13:30 Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Bradley Dredge, Matteo Manassero (Ita)
13:40 Daniel Im (USA), Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Justin Walters (Rsa)
13:50 Connor Syme, Adam Bland (Aus), Callum Shinkwin
14:00 Clément Sordet (Fra), Sam Brazel (Aus), Colm Moriarty
14:10 Rak hyun Cho (Kor), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Haydn Porteous (Rsa)
14:20 Chase Koepka (USA), Matthias Schwab (Aut), Julien Guerrier (Fra)
14:30 Lorenzo Gagli (Ita), Maximilian Kieffer (Ger), Aaron Rai

FRIDAY
1ST TEE
MORNING
07:30 Daniel Brooks, Sébastien Gros (Fra), Cormac Sharvin
07:40 Oliver Farr, Jeff Winther (Den), Neil O'Briain
07:50 Richard Bland, Andrew Dodt (Aus), Joakim Lagergren (Swe)
08:00 Andres Romero (Arg), Grégory Bourdy (Fra), Jeunghun Wang (Kor)
08:10 Romain Wattel (Fra), Lasse Jensen (Den), Chris Paisley
08:20 Matthew Nixon, Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Nacho Elvira (Esp)
08:30 Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Bradley Dredge, Matteo Manassero (Ita)
08:40 Daniel Im (USA), Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Justin Walters (Rsa)
08:50 Connor Syme, Adam Bland (Aus), Callum Shinkwin
09:00 Clément Sordet (Fra), Sam Brazel (Aus), Colm Moriarty
09:10 Rak hyun Cho (Kor), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Haydn Porteous (Rsa)
09:20 Chase Koepka (USA), Matthias Schwab (Aut), Julien Guerrier (Fra)
09:30 Lorenzo Gagli (Ita), Maximilian Kieffer (Ger), Aaron Rai

AFTERNOON
12:30 Ryan Evans, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Marcus Kinhult (Swe)
12:40 Scott Jamieson, Brett Rumford (Aus), Matthew Southgate
12:50 Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel), Ryan Fox (Nzl), Jorge Campillo (Esp)
13:00 Yusaku Miyazato (Jpn), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Adrian Otaegui (Esp)
13:10 Mikko Korhonen (Fin), Dylan Frittelli (Rsa), Andy Sullivan
13:20 Graeme McDowell, Jon Rahm (Esp), Rafa Cabrera Bello (Esp)
13:30 Pádraig Harrington, Chris Wood, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha)
13:40 Jamie Donaldson, Eddie Pepperell, Lucas Bjerregaard (Den)
13:50 Søren Kjeldsen (Den), Jordan Smith, Shubhankar Sharma (Ind)
14:00 Carlos Pigem (Esp), Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin), Jinho Choi (Kor)
14:10 Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Erik Van Rooyen (Rsa), Alvaro Quiros (Esp)
14:20 Bradley Neil, Cian McNamara, Simon Thornton
14:30 Gavin Green (Mas), David Lipsky (USA), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra)

10TH TEE
MORNING
07:30 Marcel Siem (Ger), Paul Waring, Richard Sterne (Rsa)
07:40 Pablo Larrazábal (Esp), Thomas Detry (Bel), Lee Slattery
07:50 Austin Connelly (Can), Dean Burmester (RSA), Gavin Moynihan
08:00 Peter Uihlein (USA), Julian Suri (USA), Haotong Li (Chn)
08:10 Paul Dunne, Alexander Levy (Fra), Matt Wallace
08:20 Matthew Fitzpatrick, Thorbjørn Olesen (Den), Rory McIlroy
08:30 Shane Lowry, Lee Westwood, Thomas Pieters (Bel)
08:40 Robert Karlsson (Swe), Russell Knox, Alexander Björk (Swe)
08:50 Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjørn (Den), Danny Willett
09:00 David Howell, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Paul McGinley
09:10 SSP Chawrasia (Ind), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño (Esp), George Coetzee (Rsa)
09:20 Scott Fernandez (Esp), Richie Ramsay, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn)
09:30 Zander Lombard (Rsa), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Raphaël Jacquelin (Fra)

AFTERNOON
12:30 Mark Foster, Pedro Oriol (Esp), Ashun Wu (Chn)
12:40 David Drysdale, Jens Dantorp (Swe), James Morrison
12:50 Chris Hanson, Grégory Havret (Fra), Henric Sturehed (Swe)
13:00 Adrien Saddier (Fra), Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha), Ashley Chesters 13:10 Matthew Baldwin, Andrea Pavan (Ita), Benjamin Hebert (Fra)
13:20 Laurie Canter, David Horsey, Robert Rock
13:30 Stephen Gallacher, Jason Scrivener (Aus), Oliver Fisher
13:40 Marcus Fraser (Aus), Steven Brown, Nino Bertasio (Ita)
13:50 Peter Hanson (Swe), Matthieu Pavon (Fra), Scott Hend (Aus)
14:00 Soomin Lee (Kor), Brandon Stone (Rsa), Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa)
14:10 Ricardo Gouveia (Por), Sam Horsfield, Wade Ormsby (Aus)
14:20 Nico Geyger (Chi), Renato Paratore (Ita), Charlie Ford (Eng)
14:30 Ruaidhrí McGee, Jason Norris (Aus), Marc Warren