Shane Lowry and Seamus Power are playing in the same grouping for the opening round at the Irish Open.
But their group is not being shown live on TV as both RTE and Sky Sports' live coverage from Mount Juliet doesn't start until 1pm, by which time Lowry and Power will both be finished their round.
The two highest ranked Irish golfers in the field teed off alongside England's Tyrrell Hatton at 8am, some five hours before the live televised coverage begins.
READ MORE: Shane Lowry dreaming of an Offaly double on Sunday - and a party in Tullamore
A number of golf fans took to social media to voice their frustrations at not being able to watch Lowry and Power live.
One said: "Can someone tell me why the Irish Open TV coverage starts at 1pm? A total of 32 three balls are out at that stage. It is the same every year."
Another commented: "Amazing coverage from the Irish Open this morning… All the top Irish golfers out on the course since 7.30am… Tv coverage starts at… 1pm."
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy is once again not taking part in the Irish Open this year and Lowry believes the event could benefit from a change in date to ensure an even stronger field.
“We have a few of the top players in the world, myself and Seamus (Power), and we have Paddy (Harrington) coming back from winning the (Senior) US Open, which is great, but we would like to have a stronger field here, there’s no doubt about that,” Lowry said in his pre-tournament press conference.
“Personally, I do feel like the date could be looked at. I’ve talked about it with the Tour every year, and we’d love to have the date where we can guarantee Rory (McIlroy) coming back and playing here every year, what works for his schedule.
“Because at the end of the day, we do need to acknowledge what he’s done for the tournament and what he needs to do to get ready to play his majors because that’s what it’s all about for him at the moment.”
Lowry won the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009 and is relishing the chance of a second victory on the back of his first missed cut of the year – from the toughest side of the draw – in the US Open at Brookline.
“I say it every year, it’s always great to come back to The Irish Open and I owe a lot to it for where I am in the game with the start that I had in 2009,” Lowry said.
“It gave me the kickstart to my career that I really needed, definitely gave me one up on the rest of the guys around my level at the time.”
Lowry, who missed the cut by a shot at Brookline when it surprisingly fell at three over, added: “I have to say that was one of the more disappointing Friday evenings I’ve had.
“I went back to the house Friday afternoon, and two hours into it I was like this is going to be way tighter than I thought it was going to be. And then like an hour later, it was like this is no chance, I can pack my bags.”
Lowry had not been impressed to see some of the greens apparently being watered during Friday’s second round, writing “In what stratosphere is this fair USGA” over an Instagram image of staff spraying the 13th green.
“I got an explanation of the USGA that it doesn’t do anything to the playability of the greens, but I don’t believe that,” the 35-year-old added.
“I don’t think the greens were getting any way ridiculous at any stage. I’ve played in US Opens that were worse than that so I was disappointed.”
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