Tag: Irish Open

Royal County Down, Golfweek’s No. 1 international course, a welcome site for Amgen Irish Open

Professional golf and top-ranked courses don’t always coincide as well as this week at Royal County Down.

Truly great courses and professional golf rarely collide, but this week is a welcome exception.

Royal County Down’s Championship Links, site of the Amgen Irish Open beginning Thursday on the DP World Tour, has a rare distinction: it’s one of only two courses to be ranked No. 1 on one of Golfweek’s Best premium rankings of courses to have hosted an upper-level men’s tour event in decades. The layout in Newcastle, Northern Ireland, ranks No. 1 on Golfweek’s Best list of courses outside the U.S.

Royal County Down originally was designed as a nine-hole layout by George L. Baillie in 1889. Nine more holes were laid down among the sandy dunes as designed by none other than Old Tom Morris over the following years. The course has evolved over the decades with contributions by George Combe, Harry Colt and Donald Steel, among others making suggestions.

The ninth green at Royal County Down in the lead-up to Amgen Irish Open 2024 in Newcastle, Northern Ireland (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

Royal County Down has hosted a slew of top-level events including three previous Irish Opens, most recently in 2015. It also has been the site of various British Amateur Championships, Senior British Opens, a Curtis Cup, a Walker Cup, the British Ladies Amateur six times, and the European Ladies’ Team Championship.

Not counting our wide-ranging state-by-state rankings of public and private courses, the only other No. 1 on one of our premium lists to host a top-tier event has been Pebble Beach Golf Links in California, site of  six U.S. Opens, one PGA Championship, one U.S. Women’s Open and multiple U.S. Amateurs and U.S. Women’s Amateurs. Also the annual host of the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the famed layout is No. 1 on Golfweek’s Best ranking of resort courses in the U.S.

By comparison, the private Cypress Point in California took over the No. 1 spot this year on Golfweek’s Best ranking of classic courses built before 1960 in the U.S., but the PGA Tour hasn’t been back since 1990. Before Cypress Point took over the top spot this year, Pine Valley in New Jersey had enjoyed a long run in the No. 1 spot, but that private stalwart never has hosted a PGA Tour event. That leaves Augusta National, ranked No. 3 among American classics and home to the Masters, as the highest-ranked classic course in the U.S. to have hosted a top-level men’s event in recent memory.

Among modern courses built since 1960 in the U.S., none of the top seven layouts have hosted a PGA Tour event. The Straits Course at Kohler’s Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, tied for No. 8 on that list, is the highest-ranked modern course to have welcomed top-level men’s events, including three PGA Championships, a U.S. Senior Open and a Ryder Cup.

Shubhankar Sharma leads Irish Open by one, Rory McIlroy’s back ‘not at all’ a problem

Catch up on the opening round of the Irish Open here.

On a day where low scores were plentiful — more than half the field (82 of the 156) shot under par — Shubhankar Sharma bested everyone, posting a 7-under 65 around The K Club on Thursday afternoon.

Sharma, who began his day on No. 10, picked up four shots on the closing three holes of his front nine, birding Nos. 16 and 17 before draining his 104-yard approach into the par-5 18th for eagle.

After making the turn, Sharma added circles on Nos. 2 and 4 to solidify his bogey-free 7-under performance. The 27-year-old, who finished T-8 at the Open Championship in July, has yet to record a win on the PGA Tour and hasn’t entered the winner’s circle on the DP World Tour since 2018.

One shot behind the leader is a pack of six players, including 52-year-old Thomas Bjorn who surprised even himself during the opening round of the Horizon Irish Open.

“I’m fortunate, I’ve played this golf course so many times,” Bjorn said after signing for a 6-under 66. “It’s a long time ago. We played here every year, but it’s always been the same fairways and greens.

“I drove it very well today. I drove it in the middle of the fairway. I think I missed one fairway in this round of golf, and then this golf course becomes a lot easier to deal with.”

Six players are tied for seventh, two back of Sharma, while 13 players — including European Ryder Cupper Shane Lowry and captain Luke Donald — are three back at 4 under.

Rory McIlroy and Billy Horschel, who were paired together and shared a great moment for all those golf swing nerds out there, shot matching 3-under 69s.

McIlroy, who sustained a back injury prior to the Tour Championship last month, said it was no problem on Thursday.

“Not at all,” the Northern Irishman said when asked if the back was an issue on Day 1. “It’s more that I have not been able to hit a ton of balls. I’m hitting good shots but as you know it’s all about knowing your patterns and where you’re missing it and where to aim and where not to aim and just a little unsure over a couple shots but again overall I managed myself well today and got it around.”

Back in 2016, McIlroy won the Irish Open at The K Club.

Rory McIlroy and Billy Horschel talking golf swing is music to our ears

Swing nerds rejoice.

Some of the best golf television is not when the commentators are speaking, but when the golfers are discussing shots with their caddies or talking with each other.

That was no different Thursday during the first round of the Horizon Irish Open, where Rory McIlroy, the 2016 champion of the event at The K Club, and Billy Horschel were caught discussing the golf swing walking off a tee box.

At the beginning of the clip, McIlroy, ranked second in the world, stopped while walking off a tee box to act out a swing thought Horschel was describing. Then the latter talked about the feel in his golf swing and more, with the duo providing mesmerizing commentary for 30 seconds that any swing nerd can’t get enough of.

McIlroy and Horschel shot matching 3-under 69s in the opening round. There’s a four-way tie for the lead at 6-under 66, which includes Jordan Smith, Thomas Bjorn, Ross Fisher and Ashun Wu.

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Rory McIlroy talks European Ryder Cup team, back health heading into Irish Open

“I would say it’s at 90 percent, 95 percent.”

Rory McIlroy’s PGA Tour season came to an end last month in Atlanta where he finished solo fourth at the Tour Championship. The week got off to a disappointing start, as he arrived at East Lake with a back injury.

Despite struggling with his health, the Northern Irishman took home a $4 million bonus at the FedEx Cup Playoff finale.

McIlroy finished his campaign with 10 straight top-10 finishes, including a win at the Scottish Open.

He returns to the Horizon Irish Open this week in great form and is back at a golf course he conquered in 2016, The K Club.

Seven years ago, McIlroy beat Bradley Dredge and Russell Knox by three shots for his 13th DP World Tour win.

“It’s been good to get back and sort of try to refamiliarize myself with the golf course,” McIlroy told the media Wednesday in Kildare, Ireland. “A lot’s happened in the last seven years, so I actually struggled to remember quite a few holes when I played this morning, but it’s also started to come back.

“Nice to come back, good memories, and just happy to be here and sort of try to keep up the good play and run that I’ve been on the last couple months.”

And it sounds like a few weeks off was exactly what the doctor ordered to get his back into a better spot.

“It’s OK,” he said. “I would say it’s at 90 percent, 95 percent. It’s not a hundred percent better. I just happened to take care of it a little bit but it’s not preventing me from doing anything I want to do. Just being a little mindful, I guess.”

Balancing not pushing his body too hard and still trying to win this week will be difficult, especially with the Ryder Cup on the horizon.

As European stalwarts Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are no longer in the picture, McIlroy will serve as the undisputed leader in Rome come Sept. 29th.

You could say he sounds excited about the 12-man squad ready to do battle at the biennial event.

“You look at Viktor end of the season; with what Jon Rahm has done this year; myself; Tommy Fleetwood back to playing some of the best golf he’s played in a while; Tyrrell; Shane; Rosey.

“I think you’ve got a nice blend of experience and youth in the team,” he said. “I think everyone who has followed golf over the last few months has known the potential that someone like Ludvig has had. You just have to watch him hit balls on the range at a PGA Tour event. I mean, he’s special, he really is. He’s an unbelievable ball striker.

Ludvig Aberg
Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg poses with the trophy after winning the European Tour’s European Masters golf tournament in Crans Montana, western Switzerland on September 3, 2023. (Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images)

“I don’t think people maybe from this part of the world recognized it because he’s played all of his golf in college and in the States and then played a lot of PGA Tour stuff. But he came over here and finished fourth in the Czech Republic and won in Switzerland. He proved to a lot of people that he’s worthy of a pick. I honestly think Luke was going to pick him regardless but he obviously his job easier when he won on Sunday.”

But with his eyes still set on The K Club, he reflected on how much his 2016 win meant to not only him, but his family.

“For as long as I can remember since I was a child, the only tournament my Mum ever wanted to see was the Irish Open,” McIlroy said. “So for her to be there and for me to win it, it means a lot to her obviously, and a lot to us as a family.”

Come Sunday, maybe he’ll add another memory for his family to cherish just two-and-a-half hours away from his childhood town of Holywood.

Seamus Power withdraws from Irish Open, will miss at least two months

The 36-year-old has failed to crack the top 10 in 20 starts this year, and now the news has gotten even worse.

The way Seamus Power closed out the calendar year 2022, he must have assumed the best was yet to come. After securing his second PGA Tour title at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in late October, Power then posted top-5 finishes at both the World Wide Technology Championship and the RSM Classic.

But 2023 has been a different story. The 36-year-old native of Waterford, Ireland, has failed to crack the top 10 in 20 starts this year, and now the news has gotten even worse: the East Tennessee State University product was forced to withdraw from this week’s Horizon Irish Open with a hip injury that will keep him out of action for at least two months.

This week’s Irish Open at the K Club in Kildare, Ireland, has drawn one of the DP World Tour’s strongest fields with Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton, Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee and Shane Lowry all vying for the title. The event will be played less than two hours from where Power grew up.

Thanks to his early-season success, Power made almost $4 million on the PGA Tour in 2022-23 and finished 41st in the FedEx Cup standings, a personal best. But the hip injury surfaced at the Genesis Scottish Open, where he was forced to withdraw, and he missed the cut the following week at the British Open at Royal Liverpool.

He then tied for last place at the first playoff event in Memphis and failed to qualify for the Tour Championship thanks to a rough showing at the BMW Championship, where he finished 48th out of 50 players.

Power did have one huge highlight in the spring, however, as he became the third player in history to make back-to-back holes-in-one in the Par 3 Contest at Augusta National Golf Club during Masters week.

The previous two players to accomplish the feat were Claude Harmon in 1968 (Nos. 4 and 5) and Toshi Izawa in 2002 (Nos. 5 and 6).

Irish Open returns for the first time in 10 years, headlined by national hero Leona Maguire and backed by KPMG

Leona Maguire was 15 years old the first time she played in the Irish Open.

It’s been 10 years since the Irish Open was last held, and it’s no coincidence that the event’s return coincides with the rise of a bona fide Irish star in Leona Maguire. Currently No. 18 in the world, Maguire has begun to fulfill the promise she showed as an amateur with her breakout performance at the 2021 Solheim Cup and maiden victory at the LPGA Drive On earlier this year.

Maguire’s hometown of Cavan threw a parade in her honor when she returned to Irish soil after last year’s Solheim. The 27-year-old Duke grad then became the first Irish player to win on the LPGA, and now her personal sponsor, KPMG, is the title sponsor of her national Open.

KPMG’s influence on the women’s game ranges from title sponsor of one of the five LPGA majors, to sponsorship of the Irish Kids Golf Tour, which is open to boys and girls ages 13 and under. They also financially back the LPGA’s reinvigorated stats system.

“It was always a big event when it was on the schedule a few years ago,” said Maguire of the Irish, “and it’s taken 10 years, but there’s been a lot of planning and organizing that has gone into it, and hopefully this can become a big event on the LET schedule for a long time to come.”

Maguire and twin sister Lisa played as amateurs at the Irish Open from 2009 to 2012 at Portmarnock and Killeen Castle. Leona was 15 years old the first time she played in the Irish Open, and she was paired with Dame Laura Davies, which she called intimidating.

“She was hitting that 2-iron of hers everywhere,” said Maguire, “and I was trying to hit my driver within 40 yards of it.”

Catriona Matthew, Maguire’s Solheim Cup captain last year, won the Irish in 2012 by a single stroke over Suzann Pettersen and will compete alongside Maguire this week in the first two rounds at Dromoland Castle. Matthew was also on the winning European Solheim Cup team at Killeen in 2011.

“I played the whole 18 now in the pro-am and I think it’s going to be a tricky golf course,” said Matthew. “The front nine is tricky off the tee and the greens are difficult. I’m really looking forward to it and there’s a real buzz about the tournament and it looks like we’re going to have some good crowds.”

Linn Grant, a four-time winner on the LET this season, highlights another marquee pairing along with up-and-coming teen Pia Babnik and 41-year-old Liz Young, who recently won her first LET title in Switzerland.

The 72-hole stroke-play event features a field of 126 and a purse of 400,000 euros.

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Lucas Herbert punches ticket to British Open with wire-to-wire win at European Tour’s Irish Open

The win is Herbert’s second on the European Tour.

Lucas Herbert began the week at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open with a 64 to take the lead and never looked back.

The 25-year-old Australian went wire-to-wire thanks to a 4-under 68 on Sunday to reach 19 under at Mount Juliet Estate and seal the deal for his second European Tour win. Herbert’s first came in early 2020 at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, where he defeated Christiaan Bezuidenhout in a playoff.

With this win, Herbert punched his ticket to the 149th British Open later this month at Royal St George’s in Sandwich, England. Joining him at the Open will be runner-up Rikard Karlberg, who finished three shots back at 16 under, and Johannes Veerman, who placed third at 15 under.

“It’s a bit fulfilling really, I feel like I was probably really at one of my low points in my life two years ago when I played at Lahinch in the Irish Open,” said Herbert after the round. “The more big events that you play the better. You get more comfortable in those so I can take some more opportunities when I do get those chances.”

Next week the European Tour heads to the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, for the Scottish Open ahead of the year’s final men’s major championship.

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Big names Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry flounder in Irish Open; Lucas Herbert still leads

It’s a power-packed field at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open this week, but most of the recognizable names aren’t having much of an impact.

A power-packed field was lined up for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open this week, but most of the recognizable names aren’t having much of an impact as the tournament heads into its final round.

Rory McIlroy, who shot a 67 during Friday’s second round at Mount Juliet Estate in Kilkenny, Ireland, fell back during the third round, shooting a 1-over 73 to fall 11 shots off the lead heading into the final day.

McIlroy carded a pair of double-bogeys on Saturday, including one on the 16th hole that pushed him well out of contention.

Shane Lowry didn’t fare any better on Saturday, as his 74 dropped him to a dozen shots behind leader Lucas Herbert. And the Australian, who won the 2020 Omega Dubai Desert Classic, limped home with a 37 on the back nine, although he still maintains a one-stroke lead over Johannes Veerman.

The biggest mover on Saturday was Justin Harding, who had an eagle on No. 17 and a birdie on 18 to close within three shots of the lead.

Other big names who don’t have much chance of catching the leaders include Tommy Fleetwood (six behind Herbert), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (eight back), Martin Kaymer (nine back), and Graeme McDowell (10 back).

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Lucas Herbert sets the pace at Irish Open; Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy lag behind

Lucas Herbert remains at the top of the Irish Open leaderboard after two rounds.

Lucas Herbert remains at the top of the Irish Open leaderboard after two rounds on the strength of his opening 8-under 64 at Mount Juliet Estate in Thomastown, Ireland.

Herbert, an Australian, followed with a 4-under 67 on Friday that included both a bogey and a double-bogey. He balanced it out with a total of eight birdies on the day and is at 13 under for 36 holes.

After winning last season’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic, Herbert is looking for his second European Tour win.

Despite not being thrilled with his big numbers on Friday, Herbert was pleased with how he’d set himself up for the weekend. He leads Grant Forrest and Andy Sullivan, both at 11 under, by two shots.

“I think it’s definitely something that comes with a win where you know you’ve proved to yourself that you can win, you can hit shots under pressure and actually win,” he told the European Tour. “So I’ll be taking a lot of experience from that into the weekend and try and draw on that confidence as well.”

Defending champion John Catlin was T17 at 7 under, two shots clear of 2019 British Open champion Shane Lowry and four-time major winner Rory McIlroy.

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John Catlin logs second European Tour win in a month at Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

John Catlin birdied three of his final four holes on Sunday to win the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

It has been a fine fall for John Catlin. The former University of New Mexico player birdied three of his final four holes on Sunday to win the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. He rose seven spots on the leaderboard with his final-round 64 at Galgorm Golf Resort in Northern Ireland on a day when the players he was chasing couldn’t seem to get anything going.

Third-round leader Aaron Rai finished second after a closing even-par 70. Jazz Janewattananond and Maverick Antcliff tied for third at 7 under.

Catlin then joined Rai at the top with an 18-footer for birdie on No. 15. He stuck his approach to four feet at the next and made the putt to get to 9 under.

The third birdie, the one that sealed the win, came at the par-5 18th, where Catlin hit the green in two and two-putted as Rai bogeyed the 18th from a tough lie on his second shot.

Scores: Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

Catlin, 29, also won the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters earlier this month. He had to hold off two-time major winner Martin Kaymer to do so.

He also made headlines in August when he was removed from the English Championship field after he and his caddie dined outside of that week’s tournament bubble.

Catlin is a four time winner on the Asian Tour but entered this season without full playing privileges after finishing 155th on the 2019 Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex. Now, only Catlin, Rasmus Hojgaard and Sam Horsfield have won multiple European Tour titles in 2020.

Interestingly, only two other Americans have won this event before Catlin. Ben Crenshaw won in 1976 and Hubert Green followed with his title the next year.

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