Shane Lowry of Ireland plays his shot from the second tee during the final round of the World Golf Championship-FedEx St Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind on August 02, 2020 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Shane Lowry gave the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open a massive boost when he confirmed he will delay being reunited with his family to play at Galgorm Castle later this month.

The Offaly man (33) confirmed yesterday that he will make his first appearance on home soil since his Open Championship triumph and tee it up behind closed doors in Ballymena from September 24-27.

"I'm really looking forward to getting back home to play the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open," said Lowry, who will not have seen his wife and daughter for nearly ten weeks or his extended family since February.

"As a proud Irishman, this event means a lot to me and is always one of the most important tournaments on my schedule each year.

"While it's been extremely challenging for all players to plan their global tournament schedules this season, I wanted to do everything possible to get home to play the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and I'm delighted that I've been able to commit to this year's tournament given the circumstances.”

Lowry has been going it solo in Florida but he’s looking forward to getting home after the Irish Open.

“Look, it's been hard, yeah,” he said at Silverado Resort and Spa North in Napa, California, where he joins Seamus Power in the Safeway Open, the first event of the 2020-21 PGA Tour season, looking for some form. “The girls went home six and a half weeks ago, so it's not been easy at times. I miss them an awful lot.

“If it wasn't for the US Open next week, I probably wouldn't have lasted the full stint over here because it's just been incredibly hard. Yeah, look, US Open next week then I'm home the week after, which is nice, so I'm looking forward to that”.

The Irish Open was scheduled for Mount Juliet Estate at the end of May but it was postponed in March due to COVID-19.

With quarantine restrictions for travellers into the Republic of Ireland ongoing and the ban on mass gatherings still in place, the European Tour switched the venue to Galgorm Castle in Northern Ireland where it will be played behind closed doors.

"Obviously I was really looking forward to playing in front of our home fans as the Open champion this year, which would have been really special, but sadly it's not to be,” Lowry added.

"I'm sure everyone will be supporting from home and watching the event on TV, so hopefully I can put in a good performance at Galgorm Castle and give the Irish fans something to shout about. I've been fortunate enough to win the Irish Open already and I would dearly love to win it again.”

Shane Lowry of Ireland putts on the ninth green during the second round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club on August 14, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Chris Keane/Getty Images)

It might have been easy for him to skip it this year given the COVID-19 pandemic but he has opted to support his home event, even if that means he will miss the BMW PGA at Wentworth.

“So I'm going to go home after Winged Foot, go straight up north and play the Irish Open and then I'm going to take some time off to be honest,” he said. “I would like to play Wentworth, but it just doesn't make sense for me to go over and play Wentworth for one week and have to come back to Ireland and quarantine for two weeks.

“It's just something that I can't do. I've been away from my family for too long and I'm missing a certain stage in my daughter's life that I don't want to miss and it's not been nice, but it is what it is. So I'm playing the Irish Open, then I have a couple of weeks off and then I come back Stateside.

“All in all it will be almost 10 weeks away from them, so it's not ideal, especially when your daughter's growing up and she's only three and a half, but it is what it is. It's not like I'm going to war or anything, I'm just going to play golf, so I just have to get on with it.”.

Rather than a prize fund of $7 million, the event will offer just €1.25 million and therefore will not be part of the Rolex Series.

Many big stars, such as new dad Rory McIlroy and defending champion Jon Rahm have opted to remain in the US due to COVID-19 while Pádraig Harrington or Graeme McDowell have yet to confirm their plans.

After a mixed season on the PGA Tour, Lowry returns to action in California with new clubs in the bag and Winged Foot on his mind.

“Obviously I wouldn't be overly pleased with how I did last season, but it was a strange one,” he said. “I felt like I played okay in part and I felt like I had it going before lockdown and I struggled when we came back out and I rallied a little bit to make it to the Playoffs. It was disappointing to play the way I did in Boston, but that's just the way it is. I've had a couple of weeks off.”

He knows the likes of Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas or new dad Rory McIlroy are going to be hard to beat at Winged Foot, but he’s excited about a tough US Open challenge having finished tied ninth in 2015 and joint second in 2016 when the new FedEx Cup champion beat him at Oakmont.

“Yeah, Winged Foot is going to be hard, there's no doubt about it. I imagine it's going to be one of the tougher US Opens that we're going to face, “ he said. “I'll see what it's like when I get there. I haven't been there yet. I'll just have to wait and see.

“I heard Jon Rahm's comments last week saying that it's going to be over par will probably win the tournament. It excites me a little bit to be able to see what it's like, but obviously it won't excite you too much if you don't have your A-game with you. So I want to bring my best game there and hopefully perform as well as I can.

“And look, obviously Dustin, what he's done over the last while has been incredible, but look, everyone knows that Dustin can do that.

“I look at those guys at the top of the world like Dustin and Rory and Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm and Brooks and these guys, you look at those guys and when they bring the form that Dustin has brought over the last while, they're pretty much unbeatable and that's just the way they are.

Dustin Johnson of the United States celebrates on the 18th green after winning the FedEx Cup in the final round of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club on September 07, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

“When guys like myself rock up to big tournaments, we just have to hope we bring our A-game and they don't. That's the way I've looked at it, that's the way I've looked at it my whole career.”

After exiting the FedEx Cup playoffs at the first hurdle, Lowry has been trying to dial in new equipment and he believes he has found the perfect driver to go with his new Srixon irons.

“Yeah, Srixon came out with some new equipment, a new set of irons, which are similar. They look a little bit different to what I've been using, but they perform pretty much the same and I find the irons easy to change, so that's easy.

“And my driver, to be honest, I drove the ball pretty poorly over the last while and I do feel like there might be something wrong with the old driver. I used it for a couple of years, maybe it's gone a little bit. I was getting some weird numbers on TrackMan and stuff, so decided to put a new driver in the bag. I used it the last couple of days and I've hit it pretty well, so I'm excited to see what they're like.

“I had a full week down in Florida last week practising with them. I came here yesterday with six drivers and I managed to whittle it down to one today, which is good. After a day, I'm down to one, so I'm pretty happy with that.

“Obviously, going into the US Open, probably not the most ideal time to change, but some fresh grooves on the irons, I feel like they spin a little bit more, which might be helpful at Winged Foot trying to stop the ball on some of those greens, so it could help me going forward”

As a father, Lowry knows what McIlroy is going through right now following the birth of his daughter last week and imagines the Co Down man will be keen to get back to winning ways soon.

”I'm very surprised that it didn't get out quicker, to be honest,” he said of the news of the McIlroy’s becoming parents. “I've known all along. I remember since we've had Iris, I just wanted to get my first tournament win when she was there and that's will I've wanted to do, and I'm sure Rory's going to be in the same boat.

“Look, it's so nice to have your family there when you win a tournament. It literally is the best thing ever to be able to celebrate with them, your little girl to be able to run out onto the 18th green, it doesn't get any more special than that. I did it in Abu Dhabi last year and to be to do it at The Open was something special. Yeah, it's something that he'll want, so yeah.”