It may have been 7.40am at The K Club but the local fans were already filling the grandstands and lining the fairways to see Pádraig Harrington make a landmark start at the Amgen Irish Open.
The home hero is one of Ireland's greatest ever sportspeople having won three Major Championships and was last year inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
His career has taken him all around the world but his commitment to his home open is unquestionable and on Thursday morning he made a remarkable 30th consectuive start in the event, having not missed a single edition since his debut in 1996.
It is records like that that endear him so much to the Irish sporting fans and speaking on the eve of the event, Harrington was looking forward to peforming for them again.
“It's hard to believe 30 years,” he said.
“When I started out as a young lad, I would never have expected that, never have dreamt that. It's a really nice milestone.
“It took me a good few years when it came to this. I used to get very stressed at the Irish Open. There's so much going on, you're busy and you're afraid of letting people down.
“I kind of now know that if I go out there tomorrow and I smile and don't get too stressed, don't get angry or anything like that, I pretty much can hit any shot and they'll still like me out there and still give me a few claps. I'm a little bit more relaxed about it.”
Harrington was already the European Number One with ten DP World Tour wins and four Ryder Cup appearances behind him as he entered the 2007 season in which he would win his national open.
Within 18 months he was a three-time Major champion and the 54-year-old thinks his home victory was crucial to his future success.
“2007... was part of that cycle of me winning bigger events, bigger pressured events,” he said.
“Winning an Irish Open, I've always said the stress coming in feels like a Major. Clearly your national open is your fifth Major, but it tends to, with everything going on, it tends to feel like a Major for you from the Monday morning.
“You tend to over-try. You tend to get too busy at them. You tend to over-practise at your national open, just like every Major. It's very hard to stand back and relax and let it all happen.
“It takes a while and a bit of experience to be able to do that. 2007 was part of my process of getting better in the bigger tournaments and a stepping-stone to winning those Majors in 2007 and 2008.”
Since winning his third Major in 2008, Harrington has added further titles on the DP World and PGA Tours as well as playing in two more Ryder Cups and serving as Europe's Captain in 2021.
And since turning 50, he was won three Senior Majors including two in 2025.
His Irish Open run shows no sign of ending soon.
