Darren Clarke has revealed his pride at Royal Portrush holding this year's Irish Open.

The Northern Irishman played much of his golf at the course as a child and believes that the venue is impressing all of the players that are scheduled to compete in this week's tournament.

Clarke said: "The Irish Open has always been one of my favourite tournaments and to have it here at Royal Portrush with this amount of people makes me very, very proud.

"It's all worked out unbelievably well. The players love it – it's almost got an Open feel, which is what I think the course deserves. I moved up here when I was young, played an awful lot of my golf here. All the players have been full of praise for the course."

Clarke is returning to compete at the course for the first time since his British Open triumph last year.