McDowell reluctantly opts out of Irish Open

Graeme McDowell © USGA/JD Cuban

Graeme McDowell has made “the very difficult decision” not to travel home for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and opted instead to defend his Corales Punta Cana Resort and Club Championship title in the Dominican Republic.

The Portrush ace (41) was due to host the Irish Open at Mount Juliet in May but following its postponement due to COVID-19 and the European Tour’s decision to stage it behind closed doors at Galgorm Castle in two weeks, he has decided not to travel

“I have never failed to attend this great event in 18 previous years and regret that due to the necessary changes made to the event, travel and scheduling issues, I am choosing to not play this year,” McDowell said in a statement. 

“I will be competing that same week at the Corales Punta Cana Resort and Club Championship, defending the title I won in 2019. 

“Defending a title is something special and an honour I have tried to take seriously all my career. Under normal circumstances defending this event would not take priority over playing my home Open, but the unprecedented circumstances make this a better option for me at this time. 

“I want to apologise to Dubai Duty Free and take an opportunity to again thank them for the wonderful commitment they have made to putting the Irish Open back on the map. 

“We will hopefully be back in 2021, with the event at full strength, surrounded by the great Irish fans, assuming we can put the issues caused by COVID behind us.”

McDowell will compete in next week’s US Open at Winged Foot with Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, amateur James Sugrue and reigning Irish Open champion Jon Rahm.

However, it appears that only Lowry will make the trip to Galgorm Castle for the Irish Open.

Rahm and new dad McIlroy have both opted to remain in the US rather than travel during an epidemic.

Ryder Cup captain Pádraig Harrington has not played golf since the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and having agonised before eventually opting not to travel to San Francisco for the US PGA Championship, he may be facing a similar decision as COVID-19 infection numbers rise on both sides of the Irish border.

“After much deliberation, I have decided not to travel to next week’s PGA Championship,” Harrington said at the time. “As Covid-19 currently looks to be under control in Ireland, I am taking the prudent approach by following the guidelines and reducing the risk as much as possible by staying at home.”