Australia’s highest finisher at the US PGA Championship in May, Scrivener is one of seven Aussies in the field for this week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet Estate that also boasts Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Martin Kaymer.

After spending the start of the 2021 season in the United States Lucas Herbert returns for the European summer with Maverick Antcliff, Scott Hend and Min Woo Lee all seeking to continue their recent good form at the €3 million event.

Currently 10th in the Race to Dubai standings, Scrivener is awaiting official confirmation that he is exempt into The Open Championship in two weeks’ time in what will be his debut appearance at golf’s oldest major.

At the completion of a disrupted 2020 season Scrivener was ranked 219th in the Official World Golf Rankings but a runner-up finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in his first start for the year sent the 32-year-old on an upward trajectory inside the top 100 that he accredits to his work with Alred.

The man behind Luke Donald’s ascension to world No.1 and Francesco Molinari’s 2018 Open Championship victory, Alred also works with Australian professionals Brad Kennedy and Travis Smyth and had an immediate impact on Scrivener.

“He’s changed the way I prepare for events and the way I practise has changed a lot,” revealed Scrivener, currently 99th in the world rankings.

“I started working with him in early December and that was a big change for me. He came over to Perth and spent a few days and I put a lot of work in before Abu Dhabi, probably the most productive work I’ve ever done.

“He was very important in the lead-up and that’s been the biggest change for me, getting so much more out of my practise.

“I knew it was going to pay off eventually, I just didn’t really expect it to happen so quickly.”

Such a strong start to the season set up Scrivener’s year and gave him the flexibility to pick and choose his events.

He received a late call-up to the PGA Championship where he finished tied for 23rd and has solidified his position towards the top of the Race to Dubai standings with a third-place finish at the Made in Himmerland tournament and a tie for sixth at the Scandinavian Mixed two weeks ago.

With wife Simone expecting the couple’s first child in August, being in control of his schedule is particularly beneficial in 2021.

“It has changed a few things,” Scrivener said of his success early in the season. “Getting into a few of the bigger events, WGCs and majors, that’s always nice.

“For us Australians travelling overseas at the moment, it’s just a nightmare. Having the freedom to skip events and take longer breaks has been really nice.

“We’re expecting a baby in August so I’m going back after the Open and then have a long break again.

“Obviously you want to take advantage of the opportunities so I still want to keep playing and push forward but for sure it’s a relief being able to plan the rest of the year.”

Elsewhere in Europe this week two young Aussies are looking to establish themselves after a challenging start to their professional careers.

Victorian David Micheluzzi will play his first tournament on foreign soil in 16 months at the Challenge Tour’s Kaskáda Golf Challenge in the Czech Republic while South Australian Kristalle Blum – winner of The Athena tournament in February – makes her Ladies European Tour debut at the Big Green Egg Open in the Netherlands.

Round 1 tee times AEST

European Tour

Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, Ireland

5.40pm                 Maverick Antcliff, Jake McLeod, Adrien Saddier

5.40pm*              Lucas Herbert, Laurie Canter, Victor Dubuisson

6.40pm                 Scott Hend, Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Shaun Norris

7pm*                    Wade Ormsby, Fabrizio Zanotti, Adrian Meronk

10.40pm               Jason Scrivener, Marcus Armitage, Dean Burmester

10.50pm*            Min Woo Lee, Lorenzo Gagli, Haydn Porteous

11.30pm*            Ryan Fox, Chris Paisley, Haotong Li

Defending champion: John Catlin

Past Aussie winners: Brett Rumford (2004)

Top Aussie prediction: Lucas Herbert

TV schedule: Live 10pm-3am Thursday; Live 7pm-10pm Friday; Live 1am-3pm Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 10pm-2.30am Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 8.30pm-3am Sunday on Fox Sports 503.

PGA TOUR

Rocket Mortgage Classic

Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, Michigan

8.55pm*              Cam Davis, Bo Van Pelt, Seamus Power

9.15pm                 Jason Day, Nick Taylor, Jason Dufner

9.35pm                 Matt Jones, Brendon Todd, Ted Potter Jr

10.35pm*            Rhein Gibson, Ryan Brehm, Davis Thompson

2.10am                 Aaron Baddeley, Cameron Percy, Chase Seiffert

2.40am*               Danny Lee, Chez Reavie, Brice Garnett

Defending champion: Bryson DeChambeau

Past Aussie winners: Nil

Top Aussie prediction: Matt Jones

TV schedule: Live 5am-8am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503.

LPGA Tour

Volunteers of America Classic

Old American Golf Club, The Colony, Texas

11.37pm               Katherine Kirk, Marina Alex, Dani Holmqvist

11.48pm               Sarah Jane Smith, Tiffany Chan, Esther Lee

Defending champion: Angela Stanford

Past Aussie winners: Nil

Top Aussie prediction: Katherine Kirk

TV schedule: Live 7am-10am Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday on Fox Sports 505.

Ladies European Tour

Big Green Egg Open

Rosendaelsche Golf Club, Arnhem, Netherlands

4.22pm                 Whitney Hillier, Elina Nummenpaa, Madelene Stavnar

4.44pm                 Stephanie Kyriacou, Christine Wolf, Marianne Skarpnord

8.52pm*              Amy Walsh, Harang Lee, Ainil Bakar

10.20pm               Kristalle Blum, Anaelle Carnet, Sideri Vanova

Defending champion: Inaugural event

Past Aussie winners: Nil

Top Aussie prediction: Stephanie Kyriacou

Challenge Tour

Kaskáda Golf Challenge

Kaskáda Golf Resort, Brno, Czech Republic

5.10pm                 Josh Geary, Matthew Baldwin, Stanislav Matus

6.10pm                 Dimitrios Papadatos, Tyler Koivisto, Jens Dantorp

9.40pm                 David Micheluzzi, Lars Keunen, Federico Maccario

11.10pm               Deyen Lawson, Joel Girrbach, Elias Bertheussen

9.40pm*              Blake Windred, Lukas Nemecz, Christopher Sahlstrom

Defending champion: Antoine Rozner (2019)

Past Aussie winners: Nil

Top Aussie prediction: Blake Windred

Champions Tour

Dick’s Sporting Goods Open

En-Joie Golf Club, Endicott, New York

Aussies in the field: Stephen Leaney, David McKenzie

Defending champion: Doug Barron

Past Aussie winners: Nil

Top Aussie prediction: Stephen Leaney

TV schedule: Live 2.30am-4.30am Saturday on Fox Sports 507; 10.30am-12.30pm on Fox Sports 503; Live 5am-7.30am Monday on Fox Sports 507