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Rory McIlroy is relishing another battle against Danny Willett after the Race to Dubai champion and the Masters Tournament champion stole the show on day one of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation.
Willett pushed McIlroy all the way to the final day of last season before the Northern Irishman finished as Europe's Number One for the second consecutive year with his victory at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
In 2016 it has been the Englishman who has stolen a march, with a first Major Championship victory at Augusta added to his win at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic to give Willett a lead over McIlroy of over a million points in the season-long battle.
The 28 year old also took the upper hand on Thursday, establishing a two-shot lead over McIlroy at the K Club, and the four-time Major winner is hopeful the two can continue to duel it out over the weekend.
"It's a great day one," said McIlroy. "Hopefully it entices people to come out and watch the golf over the next three days.
Having Danny here is a huge help, and him playing like he did today, and me playing like I did, it would be great if we could have a battle over the weekend and get the crowds to flock in - Rory McIlroy
"It would be one that I'd be looking forward to."
A victory for McIlroy would be his first at his home Open after missing the cut the last three seasons, and he admits he is excited by the thought of getting his hands on the trophy.
"I just get goosebumps thinking about it, so I can't really think about it too much now," he added.
"To win here, no matter what the circumstances are, whether I've won the week before or whether I haven't won in six months, to win The Irish Open would be something that would be very special, and I've got off to a great start towards doing that this week. I just have to keep playing the way I did today.
"It's a big thing, especially with how I've played here the last few years, it's been very disappointing.
"It's day one. There's a lot of golf to play but it's a very encouraging start.
"I think there was more out there. I thought it was a very comfortable 67. Get to go five under par after 13 with a couple of par fives to come in, had a bit of a blip on 14 with a three-putt. But apart from that, I felt like I played pretty well.
"It was nice to get an opening round like that and get a score like that under my belt, because I know what's out there now. I know if I go out and play well and the conditions are similar that I can go even better than that."
