Luck Of The Irish! Rickie & Rory Paired In Irish Open

It's the mitzvah of all mitzvahs as Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler will rekindle their Walker Cup days--minus a few pounds of hair and subcontaneous fat--in an 8 am pairing Thursday morning at Royal County Down.

For us USA west coasters, that should have them teeing off at the start of Golf Channel's midnight Thursday live coverage window (3 am ET).

From the Irish Times, on a pairing that also includes non-millenial hope Martin Kaymer, there is also this fun grouping:

There is little love lost between three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia and the two will start together from the 10th tee along with 2014 winner Mikko Ilonen at 12.50pm.

Rickie is on site and spoke to Golf Channel about returning to the site of his team USA triumph. Like many of his interviews, he doesn't say much of interest, but the photos that run as he talks are superb.