Shane Lowry: World's best will stick with established tours

Many regard the upstart LIV Golf enterprise as a bete noire that could tarnish and undermine the sport's rich tradition, but Shane Lowry believes the world's best players will remain loyal to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

Lowry, who won the Irish Open in Baltray in 2009 as an amateur, lines up in this year's edition of the tournament at Mount Juliet on Thursday.

Across the Atlantic, the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic and the LIV Golf Invitational Portland are also set to take place, with the Offaly man unequivocal in where the most talented golfers will and won't be found.

"We still have the best players in the world playing the PGA Tour and the European Tour," Lowry told RTÉ Sport.

"I've no doubt about that. If you look at the world rankings and you look at the fields, and who is playing on those tours week in, week out, I think you can see where the best golfers are.

"I'm confident that's where they're going to be playing over the next number of years and I'm delighted to be part of it."

Shane Lowry spoke to RTÉ Sport's Dave Kelly ahead of the first round of the Irish Open and revealed that it's the one tournament than he never wants to miss. #RTESport pic.twitter.com/8iCRQPe8eN

The 35-year-old also welcomed Tuesday's news of a new 13-year operational joint-venture partnership between the two established tours, which will see prize funds bolstered in a bid to stave off the threat of a rival tour backed by the government of Saudi Arabia via its Public Investment Fund. The sovereign wealth fund currently holds assets believed to be in excess of $600bn.

"I think it's great," Lowry said. "Obviously, there's been a lot of uncertainty in golf over the last number of months.

"The fact that the two biggest tours in the world have come