TV View: Stripped down to basics but Irish Open brings golf closer to home

Was it perfect? Hell, no but we must marvel at the fact that there is an international sporting event going on at all on this island right now, writes Brendan O'Brien

Aaron Rai of England putts on the 18th green under a rainbow during day one of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Golf Championship at Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort in Ballymena, Antrim. Pictures: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Golf has been back on our screens for months now but there's nothing quite as arresting as the sight of a pro letting rip against a background of three-bed semi-Ds or a herd of cows grazing away in the next field.

Nobody thought there would be an Irish Open back in the spring when the pandemic's first wave rolled over the sporting landscape, so there was a comfort to it all when the USA's John Catlin blew into his cupped hands for warmth as he walked off the 15th this afternoon.