Graeme McDowell lost his US PGA Tour card last year

Padraig Harrington and Lee Westwood are the only members of the world's top 50 in action at Adare Manor this week.

Other notable absentees include Colin Montgomerie and Paul Casey.

"They do have money to offer, they do have TV, they do have the stars, they do have Tiger Woods," said McDowell, who lost his US Tour card last year.

Only six of the top 20 on last year's European Order of Merit are playing at the Limerick venue with the likes of Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald also absent.

With Darren Clarke also missing with a hamstring injury the field is considerably weaker than in previous years, and McDowell feels the new FedEx Cup in the States is having a major effect.

Under the new system, players will earn points throughout the year and the top 144 will be eligible for four "play-off" tournaments - the Barclays Classic, Deutsche Bank Championship, BMW Championship and the Tour Championship.

"Obviously with the FedEx Cup they are going all out to steal all our top players off us and get them playing over there as often as they possibly can," said McDowell.

Adare Manor is my favourite inland course in Ireland Paul McGinley

"It's tough for our boys to not want to go over there and there's not a whole lot you can do about it.

"Certainly I'm looking forward to being back out there in the future."

European number one Harrington will tee up at Adare Manor but he acknowledges players are spoilt for choice.

He also says the Irish weather may have put some off after last year's event at Carton House went into a fifth day due to bad conditions.

"I think with the Irish Open it's not necessarily the date, it's just maybe notched down in players' minds because of the iffy weather they've been exposed to in the last couple of years," he said.

Thomas Bjorn recovered from a first round 78 to win at Carton House 12 months ago and comes into the event in good form after finishing sixth in Spain last week.

Westwood, who ended his long wait for a tour title last week, is also in action along with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Paul McGinley, who has been singing the praises of the course.

"It's my favourite inland course in Ireland, I think it's wonderful," said McGinley.

"I think it's going to play extremely long this week with the new tee boxes they put in and the weather we're going to have. The rough is like a US Open."

Other Northern Ireland players joining McDowell in the field include sponsor's invite Michael Hoey, Damian Mooney and Belvoir Park's Peter Martin.